The essential oil from ten herbal plants namely Momordica charantia, Ocimum gratissimum, Senna
alata, Phyllantus reticulata, Dissotis rotundifolia, Gossypium hirsutum, Boerhaavia diffusa, Sida acuta,
Paullinia pinnata and Senna podocarpa were extracted using hydro-distillation process. The oils were
characterised based on their colour and UV spectroscopy. Five out of the ten oils were screened against
Klebsiella pneumonia, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
Escherichia coli, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Trichoderma spp. Out of the five oils screened for
antimicrobial activities, only three were found active and these are Phyllantus reticulata, Momordica
charantia and Gossypium hirsutum.