Plants contain thousands of constituents and are valuable
sources of new and biologically active molecules
possessing antimicrobial property (Table 4). The ethnobotanical
study of plant is important for modern day
medicine but its usefulness cannot be overemphasized if
methods are not standardized to obtain comparable and
reproducible results. At present, scientists are investigating
for plant products of antimicrobial properties. It
would be advantageous to standardize methods of extraction
and in vitro antimicrobial efficacy testing so that
the search for new biologically active plant products
could be more systematic and interpretation of results
would be facilitated. Thousands of phytochemicals which
have inhibitory effects on all types of microorganisms
in vitro should be subjected in vivo testing to evaluate
the efficacy in controlling the incidence of disease in
crops, plants, and humans. Efficient collaborations with
pharmacologists and medical doctors, plant pathologists
and microbiologists are crucial to see the complete development
of an interesting lead compound into an exploitable
product.