Antifungal Activity and Phytochemical Screening of Different Solvent Extracts of Euphorbia tirucalli Linn.

The antifungal effect of Euphorbia tirucalli L. stem and root extracts was evaluated on microbial strains of C. albicans (ATCC 9002) and A. niger. Plant parts were serially extracted by using petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol and aqueous in the increasing order of their polarity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and phytochemical screening for the different plant parts and solvents used was also performed. The antimicrobial activity of the plant extract was assayed using the agar plate disc diffusion. The extracts inhibited the growth test organisms at different concentrations with significant higher antifungal activity revealed in high concentration than lower one. The significant antifungal activity was achieved in methanol and aqueous extracts which had mean inhibition zone of 15.33±0.88 mm and 17.33±0.33 mm respectively for C. albicans (ATCC 9002) while A. niger had 14.67±0.67 and 16.33±0.33 for methanol and aqueous respectively. The methanol and aqueous had better scores for antimicrobial activity compared to other solvents used. The minimum inhibitory concentration ranged from 1.97 mg/ml to 2.52 mg/ml for methanol and 2.35 mg/ml to 3.44 mg/ml for aqueous extracts. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins and flavonoids in the extracts. The antifungal activity of the crude stem and root extracts of revealed in this study is an indication of antifungal potential of E. tirucalli which may be employed in the management of microbial infections forms a basis for more investigation on phytochemical compounds to be useful for drug development.