Unraveling the antimicrobial efficacy and chemical fingerprinting of medicinal plants against the WHO’s prioritized pathogens

Background The global spread of drug-resistant organisms has necessitated the search for alternative treatments against bacterial and candidal resistant pathogens. Plants have long been used as traditional medicines to ameliorate various diseases, and their antimicrobial properties are still being explored. The aim of the present study is to assess the antimicrobial activity of extracts from Alstonia scholaris , Orthosiphon aristatus , Sphaeranthus amaranthoides , Crateva magna and Garcinia travancorica against bacteria and Candida pathogens. Results Out of 60 different sequential extracts tested, several showed moderate to good antimicrobial activity. Among them, ethyl acetate extract of G. travancorica exhibited significant activity against Lactobacillus acidophilus (17 mm) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (16 mm), Escherichia coli (13 mm), Proteus mirabilis (12 mm), Staphylococcus epidermis, Candida krusei (11 mm), Candida glabrata (10 mm) and the chloroform extract from O. aristatus showed good activity against S. epidermis, L. acidophilus (13 mm), S. aureus, Escherichia fergusonii , C. krusei (12 mm), C. glabrata, E. coli (11 mm) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (10 mm), respectively. In addition, GC–MS analysis revealed the presence of nine major compounds in G. travancorica and ten compounds in O. aristatus which were responsible for the significant antimicrobial activity. Conclusions These findings highlight the potential of G. travancorica and O. aristatus as sources for developing new antimicrobial agents against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) prioritized pathogens. Further research on these plants could lead to the discovery and synthesis of novel therapeutic agents with enhanced antimicrobial properties. Graphical abstract