Phytochemical Composition, Antibacterial Activity and Acute Toxicity Studies of Euphorbia resinifiera O. Berg

Abstract

Euphorbia resinifiera is a medicinal plant exploited by the native population to treat various diseases. The study compared the effects of seven different extracts of Euphorbia resinifiera by evaluating their antibacterial activity. The study reported the alkaloid percentage, total protein content, carotenoid content, and tannin content in the aerial part of Euphorbia resinifiera. The antibacterial activity of the seven extracts (100 mg/mL/disc) was evaluated by disc diffusion method against six pathogenic bacteria: 2 Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Microbacteriumresistant) and 4 Gram-negative (Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli,  Alcaligenesfaecalis, and pseudomonas chloritidismutans). Aqueous methanol extract obtained by maceration showed the best antibacterial activity against all tested bacteria. Whereas the percentage of total protein content was very low, 1.28%, and the alkaloid yield was 0.08±0.013 g/100 g of dry weight. The results revealed that the lethal dose (LD50) was higher than 300 mg/kg for the aqueous extract obtained by maceration. For other extracts, the LD50 was higher than 2000 mg/mL (maceration methanol, maceration Methanol-water, sonication methanol, sonication water, sonication Methanol-water, infusion.). Overall, the results indicated that Euphorbia resinifiera possesses antibacterial activity against the isolates studied.