Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Plant Extracts of Euphorbia thymifolia against Human Pathogenic Bacteria

he present study was aimed at assessing the antimicrobial potential of various extracts of Euphorbia thymifolia against human pathogenic strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Shigella boydii. The antibacterial activity was determined by agar disc diffusion and broth microdilution techniques. The results showed that the growth of the organisms were inhibited by both acetone and hexane extracts of Euphorbia thymifolia. The acetone extracts showed significantly higher zones of inhibition. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the leaf and stem extracts were 0.078, 0.156, 0.312mg/ml. The phytochemical analysis was carried out for the different parts of the plant. The qualitative analysis showed that alkaloids, phenols and flavonoids were present in both acetone and hexane extracts. The result of the present study indicate that Euphorbia thymifolia has many medicinal values and can be widely studied to extract natural compounds which are beneficial to human beings.