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Background: Medicinal plants are well-known natural sources of remedies used in the treatment of innumerable disease since antiquity. The search for newer synthetic drugs is of immense importance due to the increasing development of resistance. Antioxidant assay is a very useful technique in identifying plants which contain antioxidants which are substances that delay or inhibits oxidative damage to a target molecule thereby preventing the occurrence of degenerative diseases.

Objectives: To authenticate the local use of Argemone mexicana as a wound healing agent and evaluate its antimicrobial properties against various micro-organisms in comparison with standard antimicrobial agent.

Method: Antimicrobial assay was carried out against four bacterial strains and three fungi strains using the agar well diffusion method. The formation of a clear zone of inhibition was observed and measured and compared with that of the standard. Antioxidant assay was carried out using the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl) free radical scavenging activity. The absorbance was read at 517nm.

Result: The leaf extract of A.mexicana inhibit the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The plant tested positive for phenols, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, resins, saponins and sugars. The antioxidant assay indicates that the extract has a high percentage inhibition DPPH as compared with the standard.

Conclusion: A. mexicana has been shown to inhibit the growth of some micro-organisms and could be useful in the treatment of infections caused by these organisms including pathogenic infections. Its antibacterial potentials therefore confirm its use as wound healing. The plant possesses antioxidant activities due to the presence of flavonoids and phenolic substances which help to fight against free radicals that cause certain diseases in the body.

Keywords: Argemone mexicana, phytochemical screening, antioxidant, antimicrobial, percentage inhibition