Abstract

Medicinal plants (MPs), used in the treatment of various ailments including cancer, is as old as existence itself. There are claims that using spices extracted from some MPs, in the diets of Eastern Nigerians increased longevity but there is no scientific substantiation to this. Gongronema latifolium, Ocimum gratissimum, Monodora myristica fragrans Houtt., Xylopia aethiopica, and Laurus nobilis L., were used in this study, and processed to crude methanol extracts, CMEGL (crude methanol extract Gongronema latifolium), CMEOG (crude methanol extract Ocimum gratissimum), CMEMM (crude methanol extract Monodora myristica), CMEXA (crude methanol extract Xylopia aethiopica), and CMELN (crude methanol extract Laurus nobilis) respectively. The study was to investigate the antioxidant, antimicrobial and the cytotoxic potential of these MPs to explore the potent bioactive agents and their contributions to the general well-being of the body. The various crude extracts, CMEGL, CMEOG, CMEMM, CMEXA and CMELN were subjected to analysis to evaluate these properties. The results reveal that CMEXA and CMEMM had the highest antioxidant activities, CMEOG and CMELN had the best cytotoxic and antimicrobial potential, suggesting that these MPs might contain potent bioactive agents, contributing to longevity amongst people from eastern Nigeria.