Antibacterial, Anticandidal, Antioxidant Activities And Toxicity Of Euphorbia Hirta L.

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Date
2011-07
Authors
R. M. Abuarra, Basma
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Much work has been done to reveal the antimicrobial and phytochemical constituents of medicinal plants and using them for the treatment of various ailments as alternatives to chemically synthetic drugs. The antimicrobial activities of the methanolic extracts of Euphorbia hirta L. leaves, flowers, stems and roots were evaluated against some medically important bacteria and yeast using the agar disc diffusion method. Four Gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus sp., Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus thuringensis), four Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Salmonella typhi and Proteous mirabilis) and one yeast (Candida albicans) were screened. Inhibition zones ranged between 16–29 mm. Leaves extract inhibited the growth of all tested microorganisms with large zones of inhibition, followed by flowers, which also inhibited all the bacteria except C. albicans. The most susceptible microbes to all extracts were S. aureus and Micrococcus sp. The lowest MIC values were obtained from E. coli and C. albicans (3.12 mg/ml), followed by S. aureus (12.50 mg/ml) and P. mirabilis (50.00 mg/ml). All the other bacteria had MIC values of 100.00 mg/ml. Time-kill assay of C. albicans indicated a fungicidal effect at 1 and 2 fold MIC. Scanning and transmission electron microscopic studies (SEM and TEM) of C. albicans revealed that cells exposed to the leaf extract displayed drastic external and internal structural changes which increased with increasing time of treatment. GC-MS analysis indicated the presence of six different compounds in the leaf extract.
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Keywords
Antibacterial, Anticandidal, Antioxidant , Euphorbia Hirta L.
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