Biological Screening of Euphorbia <i>Aellenii</i>

Abstract

Fractions obtained from partitioning of aerial methanolic extract of Euphorbia Aelleniiwith chloroform (E2), ethyl acetate (E3), n-butanol (E4) and water (E5) were investigated in vitro for their phytotoxicity, insecticidal, anti-leishmanial, cytotoxicity, antibacterial and antifungal activities. Sample E2 appeared to have significant phytotoxic activity. In the insecticidal screening study only one of the insects, Rhyzopertha dominica, showed acceptable mortality after treatment with E2, but weak response to E3 and E4 fractions. Leishmanicidal activity of the chloroform fraction was present, but not very significant. E2 showed favorable cytotoxic activity, while E3 had weak activity, and the other samples had no significant activity. In the antifungal screening tests; E2, E3 and E4 fractions exhibited about 25% inhibition of fungal growth against Fusariumsolani, while they were not active against other tested fungi. The results of antibacterial screening were completely negative, which may be due to resistance towards these types of constituents.