INTRODUCTION:

Euphorbia hirta L. is a subterranian herb used for therapeutic purposes that grows along Tamil Nadu's northern east coast and in India's southern western ghats¹. The extracts of plants are used to treat respiratory tract inflammations and asthma in East and West Africa. In Madagascar it is used to treat coughs, chronic bronchitis, and other respiratory conditions. In Angola, this plant is commonly used to treat amoebic dysentery and other forms of diarrhea.

In Nigeria, the plant's exudates or extracts are used as ear drops, to cure boils and sores, and to speed up the healing of wounds. Originally from India, the plant is a pantropic weed that is typically found along roadsides and in wasteland.

A small annual herb having hairy stems growing up to 50 centimeters and it is either upright or ascending.

The leaves are oppositly arranged, elliptical, oblong, or oblong-lanceolate inshape possessing a darker top surface with a barely serrated border. The tiny, many flowers are packed into thick cymes that are roughly one centimeter in diameter. The yellow, three-celled, hairy, keeled capsules have a diameter of 1-2 mm and contain three brown, wrinkled, angular, four-sided seeds.³ Used parts include the stem, leaves, and flowers. Fig. 1: Vernicular names: In India, Euphorbia hirta is commonly known as "Dudhi" (Hindi), "Dugdhika" (Kannada), and "Ammanpacharisi" (Tamil), among other regional names.

Fig. 1: Euphorbia hirta L

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The whole plant of Euphorbia hirta Linn. was collected from local area of Kalaburagi, district, in the month of August 2016. The authentication was done by herbarium incharge of the department of botany, Dr. Prathiba G. Sangapurkar, HOD, Department of botany, V.G Women’s College, Kalaburagi. A specimen voucher has been preserved at the Museum of our college (Ref No: SVGWCG/05) Refer annuxure. The Euphorbia hirta Linn plant was dried in the shade, ground into a coarse powder using a grinder, and then kept in airtight containers for future research. The continuous soxhlet extraction method was used to extract the powder with methanol, and the maceration process was used to obtain the aqueous extract. On a water bath, the extracts were concentrated with a lower pressure.^4,5,6 The dried extracts were kept in an airtight container in an amber-colored bottle at 4 degrees Celsius in the refrigerator. After being air dried by exposure to room temperature, the concentrated extracts were weighed and their percentage yield was determined. The extract's color and consistency were recorded. Each extract's percentage yield was computed and recorded in Table No. 1.

Table No.1: Data showing the extractive values of whole plant of Euphorbia hirtaLinn

Sl. No.

Solvent

Color and consistency

Percentage yield

(%)

Methanol

Brown

31.43

Aqueous

Darkreddishbrown

15.20

Table No 1: Qualitative phytochemical assessment of methanol and aqueous extracts of Euphorbia hirta Linn showed the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, aminoacids, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, flavonoids, volatile oils.^7,8,9 These are presented in Table 2

Table No. 2: Result showing preliminary phytochemical screening for the whole plant extract of Euphorbia hirtaLinn (Methanolic Extract and Aqueous extract)

S. No.	Constituents	Test	ME	AE
1	Carbohydrates	Molisch’s test	+	+
2	Fixed oil and fats	Spot test	–	–
2	Fixed oil and fats	Saponification test	_	_
3	Proteins and amino acid	Million’s test	+	+
		Xanthoprotein test	+	+
		Ninhydrin test	+	+
		Biuret test	+	+
4	Saponins	Foam test	–	–
5	Phenolic comp and tannins	FeCl₃test	+	+
		Gelatin test	+	+
		Lead acetate test	+	+
		Bromine water	+	+
6	Phytosterol	Salkowiski test	+	_
6	Phytosterol	Libermann Burchard test	–	–
7	Alkaloids	Dragendroff’s test	+	+
7	Alkaloids	Mayer’s test	+	–
8	Gum mucilage	Swelling test	–	–
9	Flavonoids	Aqueous NaOH test	+	+
		Con. H₂SO₄test	+	+
		Shinoda’s test	+	+
		Lead acetate test	+	+
10	Volatile oil		+	+

ME-Methanolic Extract; AE-Aqueous extract ;(+) Indicates positive result and (-) indicates negative result

Anti microbial activity: The zone of inhibition obtained with different concentrations of Euphorbia hirta linn extracts are shown in Table No. 3 and 4 and plate no 1 to 10. Aqueous extract prepared with a concentration of 50 mg/ml and 100mg/ml were found to be possessing a significant antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa (gram negative bacteria). Methanolic extract has been significantly exhibited antibacterial activity against E.coli, P. aeruginosa. and aqueous extract was possessing mild antibacterial activity against gram negative bacteria at concentration of 50mg/ml and 100 mg/ml.^10,11,12,13 The radius of growth mean±SEM against methanol and aqueous extracts at different concentration against E. coli and P. aeruginosa Fig. 2 was shown to be 9±0.577 and 12.33±0.88, 28, and standard 21.67±1.76 and 13.33±2.33 and 19±1 and 28.33±1.202 standard and in aqueous Pseudomonas only show activity 12±1.155 and 14.67±0.666 and 20.67±1.202 standard respectively.^14,15,16

Table No. 3: Antibacterial activity of the methanolic extract of Euphorbia hirta linn against selected bacterial trains

S. No.	Bacterial strains	Zone of growth Mean ± SEM (mm)
		Extract concentrations (mg/ml)		Standard
		50 mg/ml	100 mg/ml	10 mg/ml
1	S. aureus	NA	NA	23 ± 1.732 ****
2	B. subtilis	NA	NA	17.67 ± 1.452 ***
3	E. coli	9 ± 0.57 **	12.33 ± 0.88***	21.67 ± 1.76 ********
4	K. pneumonia	NA	NA	26.33 ± 2.028 ****
5	Ps. aeruginosa	13.33 ± 2.33 **	19 ± 1 ****	28.33 ± 1.202 ****

Each value are expressed as mean ± standard error mean P<0.01** P<0.001***, P<0.0001**** when compared to one way ANOVA by dunnet’s test. NA Indicates noactivity.

Plate 1: Gram + ve organism *S.aureu*	Plate 2: Gram + ve organism - B. Subtilis

Plate 3: Gram – veorganism -E.coli	Plate 4: Gram – veorganism - K.

Plate 5: Gram-ve organism P. aeruginosa

Fig. 2: (A) Test, (B) Standard, (C) Control

Fig. No 3:

Table No. 4: Antibacterial activity of the aqueous extract of Euphorbia hirta linn against selected bacterial strains

Sl. No.	Bacterial strains	Zone of growth Mean ± SEM (mm)
		Extract concentrations (mg/ml)		Standard
		50mg/ml	100mg/ml	10mg/ml
1	S. aureus	NA	NA	13.67±2.70***
2	B. subtilis	NA	NA	16.33 ± 1.856 ****
3	E. coli	NA	NA	31.33 ± 1.856 ****
4	K. pneumonia	NA	NA	20.67 ± 1.2028 ****
5	Ps. aeruginosa	12 ± 1.155 ***	14.67 ± 0.666 ****	20.67 ± 1.202 ****

Table 4: Each value are expressed as mean ± standard error mean P<0.001***, P<0.0001**** when compared to one way ANOVA by dunnet’s test.NA…. indicates no activity.

Plate 1: Gram + ve organism - S. aureu	Plate 2: Gram + veorganism - B. Subtilis

Plate 3: Gram – veorganism -E.coli	Plate 4: Gram – veorganism - K. pneumonia

Plate 5: Gram-ve organism P. aeruginosa

Fig. No. 4: (A) Test, (B) Standard, (C) Control

Fig. No. 5:

RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

Many efforts have been put in to find molecules that may serve as appropriate antimicrobial agents to replace synthetic ones, and great focus has been paid to the search for antimicrobials from natural sources. Plant-based phytoconstituents are used as a model to obtain safer and highly efficient medications that inhibit the growth of microorganisms. These substances have important medicinal uses against viruses, fungi, and bacteria that affect humans. Numerous investigations have been carried out using plant extracts to screen for antibacterial activity and to find new antimicrobial chemicals of natural origin.

In the present investigation, different extracts of Euphorbia hirta linn whole plant were evaluated for its antimicrobial capabilities against certain Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria, fungi which were known to be pathogenic in humans. Antimicrobial efficiency of the plant extracts was evaluated by following serial micro dilution method (MIC) and agar well diffusion method.

All methanol and aqueous extracts of Euphorbia hirta linn were efficacious against human pathogens which were locally isolated such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli, according to our preliminary analysis. The current findings indicate that entire plant extracts are more efficient against fungi and gram-negative bacteria. This could be because the entire plant has more secondary metabolites, which enhances the extracts' activity against infectious agents.

CONCLUSIONS:

According to the study's findings, Euphorbia hirta Linn's whole plant extract has a lot of potential as a gram-negative bacteria and fungi for the treatment of infectious diseases. The development of new pharmaceuticals will be considerably aided by further thorough examination of the plant's active constituents, including carbohydrates, alkaloids, total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and amino acids, to determine the precise mechanism of action.

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Received on 15.04.2025 Revised on 28.05.2025

Accepted on 03.07.2025 Published on 24.07.2025

Available online from July 28, 2025

Res. J. Pharmacognosy and Phytochem. 2025; 17(3):193-196.

DOI: 10.52711/0975-4385.2025.00031

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