Antimicrobial Ayurveda Crops as Superfoods for Export, Conservation & Farmers’ Benefit

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is growing worldwide and presents risks such as a pandemic. It is caused by the overuse or misdirected use of antibiotics. Regulation of antibiotic use can be accompanied by herbal drugs such as turmeric, pepper, & clover, etc., that have been found to be effective for millennia with no emergence of resistance reported, due to their polyphenols and alkaloids or combination, also emerging as “superfoods” due to their inclusion in the regular diet. Combined herbal therapy may be synergistic, preventing the evolution of resistance among the microbes. The cultivation of such superfoods can double farmers' income due to the growing demand and low input costs and save threatened wild herbs from extinction.