Context Medicinal plants have long been used as a source of therapeutic agents worldwide, and herbal medicines have increasingly been employed in the treatment of diseases. Alternanthera repens is one of the underexploited plant species for its antimicrobial potentials. Aims This study aimed at investigating the antibacterial efficacy of the leaf and stem ethanolic extracts of A. repens and honey against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Materials and methods The phytochemical analyses were performed on ethanolic plant extracts using the universal laboratory techniques for qualitative and quantitative determination. The agar-well diffusion method was used for the in-vitro antibacterial bioassay. The antibacterial activities of the honeys, ethanolic leaf and stem extracts, and antibiotics were compared. The minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimum bactericidal concentrations of the honeys and extracts were determined. Statistical analysis used The students' t-test was employed to determine the significant differences between the phytochemical constituents in the extracts and also the antibacterial activities of the ethanolic leaf and stem extracts against P. aeruginosa. Results Phytochemical screening showed the presence of total phenols, saponins, tannins, total flavonoids, alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides, phytate, and terpenoids in the plant extracts. The extracts and honeys were able to inhibit the growth of the P. aeruginosa at varying concentrations (25, 50, 75, and 100%). The combinations of the honeys and ethanolic extracts of the plant parts exerted significantly higher antibacterial effects on P. aeruginosa. Conclusion The ethanolic extracts of A. repens possessed antibacterial properties against P. aeruginosa, which was more pronounced in combination with honey. The presence of various phytochemicals in the plant indicated its high potential for possible drug production.

Context Afzelia africana is one of the most important woody fodder plants in many parts of Africa. Aims This study evaluated the anticancer and antibacterial potentials of A. africana leaf and stem bark in Nigeria. Patients and methods The methanolic extracts were filtered and concentrated in vacuo according to standard procedures. The extracts were screened for phytochemical properties in accordance with standard methods. The antibacterial potentials of the plant extracts against 10 selected clinical bacterial isolates were evaluated using the agar well diffusion method. Anticancer potential using Human Embryonic Kidney cells and therapeutic index (TI) of the plant extracts were determined by standard procedures. Statistical analysis used The χ 2 test was used to determine the correlation between the antibacterial activities exerted by different concentrations of the stem bark and leaf extracts. Results Both plant parts contained alkaloids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, tannins, triterpenes, and xanthoproteins. The anticancer test with Human Embryonic Kidney cells showed that the leaf and stem bark extracts elicited cytotoxic activity. The leaf extract had TI ranging from 0.23 to 0.97 whereas that of the stem bark ranged from 0.24 to 0.75, against the selected test organisms. There was no significant difference (P=0.077) in the TI between the leaf and the stem bark extracts. There were no significant differences between the antibacterial activities exerted by the leaf and stem bark extracts and within the antibacterial activities exerted by the control antibiotics (P=0.073). Conclusions This study revealed that the stem bark and leaf extracts of A. africana possess anticancer and antibacterial properties.