More attention needs to be directed towards the ethnobotanical
use of the plant and the rational antimicrobial screening
that follows. Studies incorporating Bacillus subtilis for example,
should be avoided as this organism is not pathogenic and
thus should not be used to screen medicinal plants for antiinfective
activity. In addition, studies on the efficacy of plants
against resident beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus
and Bifidobacterium bifidum could yield information that may
make plant extracts or oils more appropriate than the presently
administered allopathic antimicrobials, which inevitably destroy
the beneficial commensal organisms together with the invading
pathogens.