Abstract

Non - timber forest products (NTFPs) are a very important aspect of the tropical forestry that cannot be overlooked. Medicinal plants - that cater for the health of over 80% of the human population in developing countries and about 25% of human population in developed nations, an estimate of over 4 billion people - are classified as part of the Non-timber forest products (NTFPs), and are repositories of phytochemicals, which are useful for the development of pharmaceutical drugs and other therapeutic products. This study was conducted to screen for the presence of phytochemicals and secondary metabolites in 15 samples prepared from 12 different plant species. The results reveal that different phytochemicals are present in different parts of different plant species, and therefore the need to screen different plant parts for the presence of secondary metabolites. It was also noted that the quantity of the secondary metabolites in the plant samples vary to a very high degree. Therefore, further phytochemical screening should be done on the medicinal plants to ascertain their curative properties and potentials revealed in ethnobotanical surveys. When such is done, the phytochemicals found in them are good potentials for the development of bioactive drugs and other pharmaceutical products.

Key words: Non-timber forest products (NTFPs), medicinal plants, secondary metabolites, phytochemicals, pharmaceutical drugs.