O.T. OLARU*^#, OANA-CRISTINA SEREMET**, MIHAELA PETRESCU***, ANDREEA SĂLĂGEAN***, B.S. VELESCU**, M.G. NIȚULESCU****

*Department of Botany and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
**Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
***Faculty of Pharmacy, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
****Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania

Euphorbia is a large genus with over 2000 species of terrestrial plants. We assessed the phenolic content of E. platyphyllos, E. stricta and E. cyparissias, in order to establish if these species could be used in phytotherapy as polyphenol sources. We checked for the presence of flavonoids and phenolic acids, glycosides and aglycons by thin layer chromatography and quantified the total phenolic content (TPC). The toxicity of the aqueous extracts was investigated on two invertebrate species: Artemia salina and Daphnia magna. Caffeic acid, quercetin and hyperoside were identified in all three extracts. Isoquercitrin was identified in E. platyphyllos and E. stricta extracts and kaempferol in E. cyparissias extract. The highest TPC was found in E. stricta (206.97 ± 9.8715 µg/mg), followed by E. platyphyllos (84.89 ± 1.8529 µg/mg) and E. cyparissias (49.33 ± 1.8529 µg/mg). The highest toxicity was induced by E. cyparissias on A. salina, followed by E. platyphyllos and E. stricta. On D. magna, the highest toxicity was found to be induced by E. stricta, followed by E. platyphyllos and E. cyparissias. The toxic effect of all three extracts is moderate to low thus supporting the use of the three plant species as phenolic compounds sources.

Corresponding author’s e-mail: octavian.olaru@umf.ro

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