Phytochemical Compositions and Antibacterial Activities of Some Medicinal Plants Found in Aliero Area, Kebbi State, Nigeria Ibrahim Sani* and Abubakar Abdulhamid Department of Biochemistry, Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero, P.M.B. 1144, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria * E-mail: isani76@gmail.com ABSTRACT In this research, hexane and acetone extracts of Bauhinia rufences, Securidaca longepedunculata and Ziziphus abyssinica were investigated for antibacterial activity. The phytochemical screening of the plants leaves extracts was conducted using standard methods of analyses. The effects of the two solvent extracts on the bacterial species (Escherichia coli, Psuedomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aereus) were determined using agar well diffusion method. The most susceptible microorganisms were P. aeruginosa, S. typhi while the least susceptible was E.coli. Highest antibacterial activity was observed with hexane extract of B. rufences against S. typhi (12.75mm). While minimum activity was observed with hexane extract of S. longepedunculata and acetone leaves extract of B. rufences against E. coli (6.00mm and 6.00mm respectively). Hexane extracts had more inhibitory effects compared to acetone extracts, but were less potent when compared to ampiclox used as standard control. It can be concluded that these plants can be useful in the treatment of bacterial infections especially of the tested species which are common in our communities and the plants can be of easy access compared to synthetic medicines especially in our rural communities. Keywords: Phytochemicals, Antibacterial activity, Medicinal plants, Hexane extracts, acetone extracts. INTRODUCTION Plants are plagued with diseases which may have devastating consequences on their population, therefore in order to serve as defense; plants manufacture secondary metabolites which help them fight diseases. These metabolites found in plants are the main sources of medicinal properties of the plants and therefore serve as the main sources of new pharmaceuticals and health care products for the benefit of mankind [1]. Medicinal plants generally contain a number of compounds which may be potential natural antibacterial for the treatment of common bacterial infections. It is estimated that today, plant materials are present in or have provided models for 50% of western drugs [2]. Plant derived medicines are relatively safer than synthetic alternatives, offering profound therapeutic benefits and more affordable treatment [3]. Therefore there is urgent and continuous need to discover new antimicrobial compounds from plant resources with diverse chemical structures and novel mechanisms of action for new and re-emerging infectious diseases [4]. Widespread of diseases such as tuberculosis, typhoid fever coupled with high poverty level in developing countries like Nigeria has made investment and investigations on herbal plants an attractive endeavor in human healthcare. This is because most of the available synthetic medicines are too expensive for most patients. In the last decade, there had been renewed attention and interest in the use of traditional medicine globally [5] as source of many important medical pharmaceuticals. For centuries, plants have been used throughout the world as drugs and remedies for various diseases. These drugs serve as prototype to develop more effective and less toxic medicines. Hence, an attempt has been made to evaluate antibacterial activity of the folk’s medicinal plants used in North-western region of Nigeria against some bacterial pathogens. Antibacterial activity is the ability of a substance to inhibit bacterial growth or kill the cells. Different types of antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents are being used in the treatment of one form of disease or the other. Most of these antibiotics were originally derived from micro-organisms while the chemotherapeutic agents are from plants. However, nowadays these antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents are obtained by various synthetic processes. Most countries in West Africa especially Nigeria are richly blessed with forests containing arrays of different herbs, shrubs and trees [6]. Seccuridaca longepedunculata is a shrub of about 10 cm high, 2 to 9cm long and 0.5 to 2.5cm broad leaves commonly found in the entire North-western zone of Nigeria. The plant belongs to the family Polygalaceae. In northern Nigeria, the Nupe and the Hausa tribes utilize S. longepedunculata ethnomedicinally as a remedy for Ibrahim Sani et al./ International Journal of Pharma Sciences and Research (IJPSR) ISSN : 0975-9492 Vol 7 No 02 Feb 2016 82