Eight medicinal plants, namely Herba Polygonis Hydropiperis (Laliaocao), Folium Murraya Koenigii (Jialiye), Rhizoma Arachis Hypogea (Huashenggen), Herba Houttuyniae (Yux-ingcao), Epipremnum pinnatum (Pashulong), Rhizoma Typhonium Flagelliforme (Laoshuyu), Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis (Houpo) and Rhizoma Imperatae (Baimaogen) were tested for their potential antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. They have been long been used in treating of various infectious diseases, e.g. skin/wound infections, fever, cough and digestive ailments ( Table 1 , ).