**8. Conclusions**

Foodborne diseases are one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality, especially in low-income countries having poor sanitation and inadequate healthcare facilities. Several plant extracts and phytochemicals including catechin, epigallocatechin, apigenin, kempferol, berberine, tiliroside and quercetin were found to be highly e ffective to control the growth of these foodborne pathogens causing infections in in vitro systems. Various mechanisms have been reported for the antimicrobial activities of medicinal plants and they a ffect those pathways of macromolecular metabolism which are the proven targets for antibiotic intervention. Medicinal plants can impact more than a single specific antimicrobial target as they contain a large number of biochemical phytoconstituents. Once utilized, natural products with antimicrobial properties can be e ffective for the prevention and treatment of foodborne diseases and can increase the shelf life of food products. However, most of the studies covered in this review are performed using in vitro assays. Further detailed in vivo studies for exploration of e ffectiveness and mechanism of their activities are necessary. Along with that, most of these studies were performed in the in vitro systems without the addition of food, simulated gastric and/or intestinal juice. Various such factors may alter the activity of these extracts and compounds when used in complex biologic systems such as in vivo and human studies. Future studies should also focus on the pharmacokinetic and toxicological aspects of plant extracts and phytochemicals.

**Author Contributions:** F.U. (Farhat Ullah), F.U. (Farman Ullah), M.A., A.A.-D., A.S., I.H. conceived the idea, performed literature review, data collection, interpretation and manuscript preparation. M.S., Z.Y., A.A.-D. and H.P.D. revised the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** There is no particular funding to support this research.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
