The root, stem and leaves of Vitellaria paradoxa, belonging to the Sapotaceae family and which have some ethnomedicinal applications were studied. Phytochemical screening of the plant parts reveals the presence of carbohydrates (free reducing sugars, ketoses, pentoses and starch), saponins, steroids, tannins and alkaloids. The antimicrobial screening of the crude methanol extract carried out in vitro on the following clinical isolates; Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pnuemoniae and Salmonella typhi showed that the crude methanol extracts had wider range of activity on these organisms than the petroleum ether extracts. The crude stem extracts inhibited the growth of P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, B. cereus and S. typhi at concentration of 50 mg/ml while the leaf had a minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) of 70 mg/ml on S. aureus, E. coli and S. typhi. The root had an MIC of 60 mg/ml on S. aureus, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae and S. typhi. The MBC in all the cases were slightly higher than the MIC and was lowest in the stem extracts which indicates that the stem bark may contain the most active components.

Ficus thoningii which has some traditional medicinal uses was investigated. Phytochemical screening of the stem bark, leaves and roots gave positive results for carbohydrates, glycosides, saponins and alkaloids. Antimicrobial screening of the crude petroleum spirit and methanol extracts showed activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Providencia stauti and Bacillus subtilis but no activity was observed against Salmonella typhi. The crude petroleum spirit extracts of the leaves and stem bark of the plant had minimum inhibitory concentrations at 50 mg/ml while the roots had no minimum inhibitory concentration at the test concentration. The crude methanol extracts of the various plant parts showed minimum inhibitory concentration at 50 mg/ml on all the pathogens tested for.