The antibacterial activity of extracts of four medicinal plants (Ferula gummosa, Echinophora orientalis, Nasturtium microphyllum and Verbascum Thapsus) was evaluated. All four plants had satisfactory antibacterial effects against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, with no significant haemolytic activity on human red blood cells.

Crude methanolic extracts and solvent fractions of the aerial parts of Spermacoce verticillata, Ficus pumila and Flemingia strobilifera showed cytotoxic activity against a human leukaemia cell line. However, chloroform and butanol fractions of F pumila had significantly lower IC50 values.

This is a review of the medicinal plants used as folklore remedies in Barbados. It attempts to outline the various families of the medicinal plants showing similarities in the phytochemical profiles of the plants and their indications. It also attempts to validate, in a preliminary way, the folklore practices by comparing the phytochemical profiles with established approved drug agents and other phytochemicals.