Rethinking Ayurvedic antibacterials: a mechanistic case for multi-target phytochemicals as adjuvants against antimicrobial resistance
- 1Nucleic Acid Engineering Research and Development in SASTRA (NERDS), SASTRA Deemed University
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is now among the foremost threats to global health, and the pipeline of new antibiotics has not kept pace with it. A structural driver of resistance is often overlooked: the dominant “single molecule–single target” paradigm of antibiotic design imposes a well-defined selective pressure that bacteria can escape through a single mutation or acquired gene. This review reframes the antibacterial potential of Ayurvedic herbs around that problem. Rather than cataloguing herbs as candidate “natural antibiotics,” we argue that their value lies in polypharmacology—the simultaneous action of structurally diverse secondary metabolites (flavonoids, tannins, saponins, phenolic acids and terpenoids) on multiple conserved bacterial targets, a combination against which stepwise resistance is evolutionarily improbable. We synthesise the mechanistic evidence for representative Ayurvedic plants including Calotropis procera , Azadirachta indica , Ocimum sanctum , the Acacia genus and Asparagus racemosus , organising it by bacterial target rather than by species: cell-wall biosynthesis, membrane integrity, and essential enzymes such as DNA gyrase and β-lactamase. We then examine two roles in which multi-target phytochemicals address failures of conventional therapy: the disruption of biofilms and quorum sensing, and synergy with existing antibiotics through efflux inhibition, β-lactamase suppression and extracellular-matrix degradation. Finally, we assess the translational barriers: reproducibility, heavy-metal contamination and the scarcity of clinical trials that currently confine most of this evidence to in vitro studies. We conclude that the most credible near-term contribution of Ayurvedic pharmacology to the AMR crisis is not as a replacement for antibiotics but as a source of multi-target adjuvants that restore and extend their efficacy.
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BibTeX
@article{narayanan2026rethinking,
title = {{Rethinking Ayurvedic antibacterials: a mechanistic case for multi-target phytochemicals as adjuvants against antimicrobial resistance}},
author = {Hari Narayanan KN and Shanker Shyam Sundhar Panchapakesan},
journal = {Frontiers in Pharmacology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fphar.2026.1946531},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2026.1946531/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Rethinking Ayurvedic antibacterials: a mechanistic case for multi-target phytochemicals as adjuvants against antimicrobial resistance
AU - Hari Narayanan KN
AU - Shanker Shyam Sundhar Panchapakesan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
JO - Frontiers in Pharmacology
DO - 10.3389/fphar.2026.1946531
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2026.1946531/full
AB - Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is now among the foremost threats to global health, and the pipeline of new antibiotics has not kept pace with it. A structural driver of resistance is often overlooked: the dominant “single molecule–single target” paradigm of antibiotic design imposes a well-defined selective pressure that bacteria can escape through a single mutation or acquired gene. This review reframes the antibacterial potential of Ayurvedic herbs around that problem. Rather than cataloguing herbs as candidate “natural antibiotics,” we argue that their value lies in polypharmacology—the simultaneous action of structurally diverse secondary metabolites (flavonoids, tannins, saponins, phenolic acids and terpenoids) on multiple conserved bacterial targets, a combination against which stepwise resistance is evolutionarily improbable. We synthesise the mechanistic evidence for representative Ayurvedic plants including Calotropis procera , Azadirachta indica , Ocimum sanctum , the Acacia genus and Asparagus racemosus , organising it by bacterial target rather than by species: cell-wall biosynthesis, membrane integrity, and essential enzymes such as DNA gyrase and β-lactamase. We then examine two roles in which multi-target phytochemicals address failures of conventional therapy: the disruption of biofilms and quorum sensing, and synergy with existing antibiotics through efflux inhibition, β-lactamase suppression and extracellular-matrix degradation. Finally, we assess the translational barriers: reproducibility, heavy-metal contamination and the scarcity of clinical trials that currently confine most of this evidence to in vitro studies. We conclude that the most credible near-term contribution of Ayurvedic pharmacology to the AMR crisis is not as a replacement for antibiotics but as a source of multi-target adjuvants that restore and extend their efficacy.
SN - 1663-9812
ER -