Phytochemical Analysis, HPLC Profiling and Anti-oxidant Potential of Euphorbia nivulia Buch.-Ham

Euphorbia nivulia (EN) one of the members of Euphorbiaceae family, is a medicinal plant of Cholistan Desert (Punjab, Pakistan) that is traditionally used for a number of diseases. The plant is enriched with many phyto-constituents including flavonoids, triterpenes and polyphenols. In present study, crude extract as well as various fractions were assessed for phytochemical analysis, HPLC profiling, radical scavenging property and total phenolic and flavonoid contents. Hydro-alcoholic (70%) crude extract of EN was subjected to fractionation using different solvents including n-hexane, chloroform, butanol and aqueous. After performing the phytochemical screening and HPLC profiling, antioxidant activity was estimated by using DPPH and FRAP assays. Total flavonoid and phenolic contents were also estimated. HPLC analysis confirmed the presence of flavonoids and polyphenols like quercitin, gallic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, benzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, syringic acid and ferulic acid in crude extract as well as butanol and aqueous fractions. Results revealed that butanol fraction showed maximum phenolic (143.26±2.65 mg/g GA/g) and crude extract showed maximum flavonoid (69.80±1.212 mg/g Q) contents. Maximum antioxidant potential was displaced by butanol fraction which was IC50=0.04±0.02 by DPPH and 1193.77±12.4 μmol TE/ml by FRAP respectively. Current study is the first information about the HPLC profiling of phenolic compounds in EN and its antioxidant potential that could be a step forward towards ethno-pharmacological based phyto-medicine.