Dietary Polyphenols in Bacterial and Fungal Infections

The ever-increasing global disease burden continually draws the attention of the scientific community to novel therapeutics and their promising beneficial effects. Profound results of many studies have confirmed the superiority and prolificity of natural compounds over conventional synthetic drugs. The scientific endeavors to discover the various health benefits of dietary polyphenols have investigated its potent effects in many diseases and conditions, as opposed to most of the artificially synthesized drugs that bring about a specific effect. Recent efforts in understanding the plausible equivalents of drug candidates have uncovered the phenomenal properties and diverse varieties of dietary polyphenols that are available in abundance in our daily diet. This chapter elucidates the different classes, structural and physiological properties of dietary polyphenols with justification for their diverse nature and therapeutic effects. Current research on polyphenols has revealed their antibacterial and antifungal properties much to the rescue of mankind. The omnipresence of both the pathogens, complex structures, high virulence, and intricate mechanisms of infection makes it difficult to design an ideal multi-faceted drug. Furthermore, the acquisition of drug resistance and genetic mutations helps these pathogens to escape the deleterious effects of several drugs. Unlike conventional drug formulations, polyphenols act through numerous mechanisms by targeting multiple cellular machinery and interfering in the major metabolic pathways of these microbes. Polyphenols, by virtue of their heterogeneous nature of synergistic and immunomodulatory mechanisms, qualify as among the most suitable nutraceuticals that have immense potential to act against infections.