In Rwanda, a variety of medicinal plants are being given to patients to treat various bacterial diseases. However, the phytochemistry of these plants is still a big challenge. A total of twenty medicinal plants of Rwanda were investigated for their phytochemical content and antibacterial potentials. The medicinal plant samples were collected, analyzed for phytocompounds’ presence, and their antibacterial activities were checked. The plant parts utilized were stems, fruits, and/or leaves, while the solvents utilized were methanol, petroleum, water, and/or hexane. The phytochemicals noticed in Dombeya torrida, Solanum terminale, Rubia cordifolia, Rosmarinus officinalis, Carduus nyassanus, Hypericum revolutum, Senna acutifolia, Acacia sieberiana, Lagenaria sphaerica, Carica papaya, Gynandropsis gynandra, and Artemisia annua were mostly saponins, tannins, phenols, glycosides, resins, and/or alkaloids. However, no phytosubstances were seen in Solanum nigrum L., Zea mays, Persea americana, Clerodendrum sp., Hypoestes triflora, and Acanthus polystachyus. The pathogenic bacteria inhibited by plant parts’ extracts were Salmonella typhi B69, S. typhi B71, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, S. aureus ATCC 43300, Klebsiella oxytoca ATCC 700524, Streptococcus pneumonia ATCC 49619, S. pneumonia ATCC 49313, Streptococcus pyogene ATCC 12344, Shigella Sonei ATCC 25931, Haemophilus influenza ATCC 9007, Escherichia coli ATCC 35218, E. coli ATCC 25922, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853. These remarkable antibacterial activities can be ascribed to the presence of various phytocompounds. The investigated plants also possessed the curating action of various diseases, in addition to acting as antibacterial agents. Toxicity and in vivo investigations should be carried out before checking the possibility of developing the drugs from the studied plants with high antimicrobial potentials.

medicinal plants, antibacterial potentials, extraction solvent, Rwanda, phytochemicals