Mediterranean Wild Edible Plants: It is worth to persevere investigating on their antimicrobial properties

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is estimated to cause the major number of deaths by 2050 if we do not find strategies to slow down the rise of drug resistance. Reviews on Mediterranean Wild Edible Plants (MWEPs) with antimicrobial properties are scarce in the main databases. We present a new review of the studies on MWEPs. Finally, out of one hundred and ninety-two we had started with, we reviewed thirty-eight studies concerning the antimicrobial properties of seventy-four MWEPs species belonging to twenty-five Families. Fifty-seven species out of seventy-four proved to be antimicrobial with a stringent threshold selection. Overall, out of seventy-four MWEPs species, fifty-one belong to eight out of the twenty-five botanical families analysed in this review. In particular, Asteraceae, Apiaceae, Brassicaceae, Caryophyllaceae and Lamiaceae contain more than eight of the species most studied, and most of them display significant antimicrobial properties. The reviewed studies did not show antimicrobial assays undertaken with clinically isolated and documented ABR strains. Nevertheless, the MWEPs' property to inhibit the wild type strains of nosocomial bacteria might contribute to lower their replication and the rise of ABR strains. It goes without saying that studies undertaken with MWEPs on documented ABR nosocomial bacterial species are necessary. It is true that studies are still very heterogeneous so far, and that we still know too little about MWEPs properties; however, what we already know strongly recommends carrying on investigation.