Natural Extracts for Antibacterial Applications

Bacteria‐induced epidemics and infectious diseases are seriously threatening the health of people around the world. In addition, antibiotic therapy has been inducing increasingly more serious bacterial resistance, which makes it urgent to develop new treatment strategies to combat bacteria, including multidrug‐resistant bacteria. Natural extracts displaying antibacterial activity and good biocompatibility have attracted much attention due to greater concerns about the safety of synthetic chemicals and emerging drug resistance. These antibacterial components can be isolated and utilized as antimicrobials, as well as transformed, combined, or wrapped with other substances by using modern assistive technologies to fight bacteria synergistically. This review summarizes recent advances in natural extracts from three kinds of sources—plants, animals, and microorganisms—for antibacterial applications. This work discusses the corresponding antibacterial mechanisms and the future development of natural extracts in antibacterial fields. This paper reviews the recent progress of natural extracts as antibacterial agents, involving the categories of antibacterial natural extracts and the treatment of related bacterial diseases with these natural extracts, as well as their antimicrobial mechanisms. Furthermore, the perspectives and challenges of natural extracts for the therapy of bacterial diseases are discussed and predicted.