Phenolic compounds, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the methanolic extracts of Euphorbia resinifera and Euphorbia echinus

Abstract

Euphorbia resinifera and Euphorbia echinus are Moroccan endemic plants that are used in traditional medicine for their therapeutic properties. The aim of this research is to study the phenolic compounds content, the antioxidant and the antibacterial activities of two Euphorbiaceae species: Euphorbia resinifera and Euphorbia echinus, which were collected in Béni-Mellal and Agadir regions, respectively. The current study involved determining the concentration of phenolics, flavonoids, and tannins of our spieces using spectrophotometry. To test the antioxidant activity of the two methanolic extracts, the DPPH° technique was used.Also, the antibacterial activity against three microorganisms was tested in vitro. The quantification of phenolic compounds revealed that Euphorbia resiniferamethanolic extract had the highest concentration of phenolics. The methanolic extract of Euphorbia resinifera and Euphorbia echinus showed a higher antioxidant activity than Ascorbic acid.The antibacterial analysis showed a positive correlation between antioxidant activity and total phenolic content. Our extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. In contrast, it had no inhibitory effect on Escherichia coli.

Keywords

• Euphorbia resinifera
• Euphorbia echinus
• Phenolic compounds
• Antioxidant activity
• Antibacterial activity