Phytochemical screening, HPLC analysis, antimicrobial and antioxidant effect of Euphorbia parviflora L. (Euphorbiaceae Juss.)

Abstract Plant extracts are actively being used worldwide due to the presence of biologically active constituents helping in the preservation of food, and to aid against various diseases owing to their antimicrobial and antioxidant potential. The present research work was carried out to investigate the phytochemical constituents, antimicrobial activity, and antioxidant activity of different extracted samples of Euphorbia parviflora. Anti-microbial studies were carried out by Agar well diffusion while the DPPH method was employed for investigating anti-oxidant activity. Three samples from methanol, chloroform, and ethyl acetate extract were tested against five different bacterial strains comprising two species from Gram-negative bacteria i.e., Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis and three species from Gram-positive bacteria i.e. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia along two fungal strains i.e. Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger. The results of the qualitative phytochemical analysis showed that methanolic, chloroformic, and ethylacetate extract of Euphorbia parviflora consist of alkaloids, reducing sugars, flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, and saponins. The total phenol and flavonoid content of E. parviflora showed that the methanolic extract of E. parviflora had a significantly higher total phenolic content (53.73 ± 0.30 mg of GAE/g) and flavonoid content (44.62 ± 0.38 mg of than other extracts. The content of total phenolic and flavonoids was more in methanolic extract as compared to other extracts of E. prolifera. The HPLC analysis showed that in the chloroform extract of E. parviflora Cinnamic acid (4.32 ± 2.89 mg/g) was dominant, in methanol extract quercetin (3.42 ± 2.89 mg/g) was dominant and in ethyl acetate extract of E. parviflora catechin (4.44 ± 2.89 mg/g) was found dominant. The antimicrobial activity revealed that amongst all the extracts the highest antibacterial activity was shown by methanolic extract against B. subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus as compared to the other extracts. The antioxidant activity revealed that methanolic extract of E. parviflora demonstrated higher antioxidant activity (82.42 ± 0.02) followed by chloroform extract (76.48 ± 0.08) at 150 µg/mL. The aim of this study was primarily to evaluate the potential of this plant as a reliable source of antimicrobials and antioxidants that may be used for the treatment of various infectious diseases in the future. The study provides evidence that this plant can act as a reliable source of antimicrobial and antioxidant agents and might be used against several infectious diseases.