Fighting Multidrug Resistance with Herbal Extracts, Essential Oils and Their Components

Mahendra Rai is an internationally recognized scholar with extensive contributions to microbial biotechnology and nanobiotechnology research, particularly in the green synthesis of metal nanoparticles using fungi and their application as nano‑antimicrobials. His work is highly interdisciplinary, bridging microbiology, biotechnology, and nanoscience, and he is an active member of several scientific societies. He has received multiple national and international distinctions, including the Father T.A. Mathias Award from the All-India Association for Christian Higher Education and the Medini Award from the Government of India. Professor Rai has also held numerous visiting scientist and visiting professor positions across Europe, South America, and Asia, contributing to long‑standing research collaborations in countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and the United States. His sustained academic impact is reflected in his inclusion among the global top 2% of scientists in nanoscience and nanotechnology, and recognition as one of India’s leading researchers in biology and biochemistry, including a Biology and Biochemistry India Leader Award from Research.com.

• Part I: General1. Alternative antimicrobial approaches to fighting multidrug-resistant infections2. Multidrug resistance reversing potential of traditionally used medicinal plants3. Harnessing traditional knowledge in the management of multidrug-resistance and prevention of emerging infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan AfricaPart II: Plant-derived antimicrobials against Multidrug-resistance4. Potential of plant-derived bioactive compounds for reversal of Multidrug resistance5. Natural agents from plants used against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus6. Bioactivity of plant constituents against vancomycin-resistant enterococci7. Use of plants in the search for drugs to treat tuberculosis8. Natural products and their perspectives in developing new leishmanicidal molecules9. Natural products with activity against Schistosoma species10. Botanical as adjunct therapy and treatment for multidrug-resistant staphylococcal infections11. Combining essential oils with antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents as a way of coping with multidrug-resistant bacteria12. Antimicrobial potential of some medicinal plants and their synergistic property: an alternative source to fight against multidrug-resistant pathogenic microorganisms13. Perspectives and key factors on the usage of herbal extracts against multidrug-resistant gram-negative microorganisms14. Use of plant-derived extracts and bioactive compound mixtures against multidrug-resistant bacteria affecting animal health and production15. Use of essential oils and their components against multidrug-resistant bacteria16. Essential oils from Compositae family against multidrug-resistant bacteria17. Natural products with activity against multidrug-resistant tumor cells18. Development of new antiherpetic drugs based on plant extracts: a review19. Natural products as an alternative against Candida species resistant to conventional chemotherapeutics20. Plant products and essential oil therapy for treatment of new and emerging viruses21. Flavonoids to combat multidrug-resistance in microbes and cancerPart III Nanotechnology-based tools against MDR22. Plant-derived natural compounds delivery by nanoparticles to fight multidrug resistance23. Bioinspired green synthesis of nanoparticles by plants to fight against Multidrug-resistant microbes