My research has focused on chemical investigation and biological activities of Nigerian medicinal plants’ essential oils from different families; Fabaceae, Bignoniaceae, Verbenaceae, Rutaceae, Bombacaceae, Apocynaceae and Annonaceae with the hope of validating their local uses and discover new natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents which could be explored in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. The objectives include extraction and characterization of the volatile oils, evaluation of the antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxicity properties of the oils. The plants were chosen based on the ethnomedicinal survey in Nigeria to treat various microbial infections and oxidative stress associated diseases. Many of these volatile oils were reported for the first time and have promising biological activities that could be useful in industries.
Presently I am working on the synthesis of Betty bases, their anticancer and antimicrobial properties. I am also working on the evaluation of chemical profile and biological activities of volatile oils extracted from medicinal plants.