Antimicrobial properties and phytochemical constituents of the metha-nol extracts of Euphorbia retusa Forssk. and Euphorbia terracina L. from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the phytochemical constituents and antimi-crobial activities of the crude methanol extracts of leaves of Euphorbia re-tusa Forssk and Euphorbia terracina L. collected from Saudi Arabia (Al-Rass province). Extracts of both plants showed presence of some bioactive phyto-chemicals such as tannins, saponins, terpenoids and traces of alkaloids for E. terracina; and tannins, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids and terpenoids for E. retusa. Among investigated microorganisms, methanol extracts exhibited some degree of antimicrobial activity towards some microorganisms; name-ly,Candida albicans ATCC 1405, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 49461, Bacillus cereus ATCC 10876 and Klebsiella pneumonia ATCC 27736 respec-tively for E. retusa and towards Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923.Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 49461,Candida albicans ATCC 1405,Bacillus cereus ATCC 10876 and Klebsiella pneumonia ATCC 27736 re-spectively for E. terracina. MIC testing was ranged from 100 to 6.2 mg/ml, proving the antimicrobial potency of these plants’ extracts against some mi-croorganisms. Further studies regarding purification and fractionation are required since the antimicrobial activities of tested extracts were not com-petitor when compared to the antibiotics Chloramphenicol 25mg/ml or Clot-rimazole 10 mg/ml.