Skin disorders are common and often chronic conditions with significant therapeutic challenges. Limitations of conventional treatments, such as adverse effects and antimicrobial resistance, have increased interest in plant-based alternatives. This article presents the phytochemical composition and pharmacological potential of several medicinal plants traditionally used in the treatment of skin diseases, including Rubus vulgaris, Plantago major, Artemisia terrae-albae, and Eryngium planum. Based on an analysis of scientific literature, the presence of bioactive compounds—including flavonoids, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, tannins, and sesquiterpenes—is summarized, along with their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects. Emphasis is placed on the correlation between traditional ethnomedicinal applications and pharmacological mechanisms. The findings support the potential of these species as sources for dermatological phytotherapeutics. Further research is needed to standardize active constituents, assess safety, and conduct clinical validation.

Traditional plant-mediated syntheses of metal oxide nanoparticles frequently suffer from mechanistic ambiguity concerning the precise roles of bioactive constituents. This study reports an advanced, facile one-pot protocol for the simultaneous green synthesis and surface functionalization of zinc oxide nanoparticles using an n-butanol fraction of Plantago major leaf extract. This dual-action approach successfully drives nanoparticle nucleation while concurrently anchoring a tailored N-alkylated piperidinyl-thiosemicarbazone motif, entirely bypassing conventional multi-step, and post-synthetic modification pathways. Spectroscopic and microscopic characterization confirms that direct coordination occurs via the piperidinyl nitrogen and adjacent carbonyl oxygen to the Zn(II) centers, establishing a stable five-membered chelate complex on the nanoparticle surface (ZnO-BN-7). Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy substantiates this coordination, evidenced by the disappearance of the free carbonyl stretching frequency at 1670 cm-1 and the emergence of characteristic peaks at 1533 cm-1 and 1377 cm-1. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals a distinctive helical morphology for the decorated nanostructures, whereas X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and UV-Vis spectroscopy (λmax = 383 nm; Eg = 3.24) corroborate the formation of highly crystalline core Wurtzite hexagonal structure with an average crystalline size between 15 and 35 nm with a monodisperse size distribution (PDI = 0.28). Preliminary antimicrobial screening evaluation demonstrates that the enhanced chemical organization of this bio-functionalized nanostructure yields significantly superior antibacterial and antifungal efficacy relative to bare BN-7 ligand, establishing a powerful, scalable paradigm for the rational design of advanced bio-inspired nanomaterials.