Antibacterial Potential of Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk. against Multidrug-Resistant Pathogenic Bacterial Strains: A Comparative Review

AbstractRising rates of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infection are steadily closing off the options offered byconventional antibiotics, which has pushed researchers to look more seriously at plant-based and complementaryantibacterial agents. Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk (Asteraceae) — widely known in India as Bhringraj or false daisy — is along-used Ayurvedic herb, and its coumestan-dominated phytochemistry has repeatedly been linked to antibacterialaction against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms, including several strains that already resist firstline drugs. This review draws together roughly three decades of in vitro work on E. alba antibacterial properties,setting side by side crude solvent extracts (aqueous, ethanolic, methanolic, acetone, hexane and ethyl acetate),purified constituents such as wedelolactone and various alkaloids, and newer nanotechnology-based preparations,including green-synthesised silver and gold nanoparticles. A consistent pattern emerges: methanolic and ethyl-acetatefractions rich in wedelolactone tend to outperform aqueous extracts, with zones of inhibition and minimuminhibitory concentrations that rival — and occasionally exceed — standard antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus(including methicillin-resistant strains), Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Thereview also outlines the molecular basis of bacterial multidrug resistance and places E. alba botanical, taxonomic andphytochemical background within that context. The biggest obstacle to translating these findings into practicaltherapeutics turns out to be methodological: extraction protocols, susceptibility-testing methods and, especially, thenear-total absence of standardised clinical MDR isolates vary too much across studies to allow firm conclusions.Overall, E. alba appears to be a genuinely promising, if still under-standardised, candidate for adjunct antibacterialtherapy against MDR pathogens, with isolate-specific, mechanism-based and in vivo studies the logical next step.