ABSTRACT

Three toxic plants belonging to Euphorbia genus, namely Euphorbia biumbellata, Euphorbia terracina and Euphor-bia dendroides were phytochemically screened and their total phenolic compounds (TPC) and total flavonoid com-pounds (TFC) were measured and antioxidant capacities were evaluated by DPPH test expressed by Vitamin C Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (VCEAC). The VCEAC values for three medicinal plants ranged from 1.0655 g to 0.7285 g of vitamin C equivalents (VCEAC)/100 g of dry matter. The concentrations of TPC and TFC in three plants were respectively 15.13 g to 7.55g of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g of dry matter and 7.06 g to 5.8 g of querce-tin equivalents (QE)/100 g of dry matter. Antibacterial activity of the methanolic extracts of these plants was de-termined by using the disc diffusion method. The results showed that three plants were active with the inhibition zones obtained varying from 8 to 22 mm. The highest inhibition zones reached was 22 mm for Euphorbia biumbel-lata leaves against Staphylococcus aureus. Phytochemical analysis of the total extract showed the presence of bio-logically active compound groups such as polyphenols, flavonoids, glycosides and tannins.