Do South African medicinal plants used traditionally to treat infections respond differently to resistant microbial strains?

Currently antimicrobial resistance is increasing at an alarming rate. Exposure to resistant strains hinders treatment outcomes both in rural and hospital settings. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate five frequently used South African medicinal plants (Artemisia afra, Lippia javanica, Osmitopsis asteriscoides, Croton gratissimus and Tetradenia riparia) and test these against resistant bacterial strains (Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens) and comparatively evaluate efficacy with a reference strain. The conventional antibiotic ciprofloxacin was used as a positive control to also compare susceptibility of the various strains. Most plant samples demonstrated similar or better activity against the resistant strains. A general trend demonstrated that the organic extracts followed by the essential oils were able to withstand resistant strains better than the antibiotics which showed reduced susceptibility. This demonstrates great promise as natural products provide an alternative to fighting the onslaught of antibiotic resistance.