Nanomedicine: The future for oral delivery of phytomedicine targeting re-emerging multidrug resistant pathogens

Phytomedicine uses crude extracts, extracts fractions or essential oil, for medicinal purposes. The WHO estimates that 80% of the world population rely on phytomedicine for primary health care (WHO, 2007) The most commonly used forms of phytomedicine in Namibia are decoctions and infusions from medicinal plant extracts that are rich in bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, anthraquinones, coumarins, steroids and tannins (Iikasha et al., 2020). Variousmedicinal plants have been identified in Namibia to have biological activity against multidrug resistant pathogens. Despite the potential bioactivity observed in in-vitro analysis of phytomedicine, the efficacy of most phytomedicine administered orally is negatively affected by the harsh acid pH of the stomach and this limits the potential for phytomedicine as alternative medicine for multidrug resistant pathogens (Kyriakoudi et al., 2021). Fig 2 summarises the challenges faced by phytomedicine in the GI tract.