Determination of Phenolic and Flavonoid Contents of Roots and Shoots of Euphorbia serpens Kunth Using Different Solvents

Euphorbia serpens Kunth (Euphorbiaceae) is an exotic annual plant species native to South America but is regarded as a pantropical weed. In this paper, the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of ethanolic, methanolic, dichloromethane, and petroleum ether extracts of shoots and roots of Euphorbia serpens were assessed in vitro. The plant materials were collected from Zabol, Sistan and Baluchestan in June 2022. The Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride colorimetric instructions were followed to evaluate the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the extracts, respectively. The methanolic extract of aerial parts contained the highest amount of phenolic compounds (59.205 mg GAE/g), while the lowest content of phenols was found in the dichloromethane extract of roots (29.794 mg GAE/g). Also, the greatest amount of flavonoids was recorded for methanol extracts of aerial parts (34 mg RE/g), whereas the ethanol extract of roots contained the lowest amount of flavonoids (1.204 mg q/g). The aerial parts of Euphorbia serpens, in general, contain higher amounts of polyphenols as compared with the underground parts. The results also showed that phenolic and flavonoid contents vary significantly with the employed solvent. It can be concluded that the aerial parts of Euphorbia serpens are rich sources of polyphenolic compounds, signaling their potential for high antioxidant activity and nutritional and pharmaceutical importance.