Chemical profile by LC-MS/MS, GC/MS and antioxidant activities of the essential oils and crude extracts of two Euphorbia species

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the chemical composition and antioxidant activities of two Euphorbia species. The major component of the fatty acid compositions obtained from the petroleum ether extracts was identified as palmitic acid for Euphorbia gaillardotii and Euphorbia macroclada. The main constituents of the essential oils were identified as arachidic acid for E. gaillardotii and tetratetracontane for E. macroclada. Among the 27 studied compounds, hesperidin, rutin, hyperoside and quinic, malic, gallic and tannic acids were found to be the most abundant compounds in the two Euphorbia species. The methanol extracts of E. gaillardotii and E. macroclada showed strong antioxidant activity in all tested methods. Particularly, IC50 values of E. macroclada methanol extract that was the richest in terms of total phenolic-flavonoid contents were found to be lower than alpha-tocopherol and butylated hydroxytoluene in beta-carotene bleaching, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free and ABTS cation radical scavenging methods.