Biological activities of aerial parts extracts of Euphorbia characias

The aim of the present study was to evaluate antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-HIV, and cholinesterase inhibitory activities of aqueous and alcoholic extracts from leaves, stems, and flowers of Euphorbia characias. The extracts showed a high antioxidant activity and were a good source of total polyphenols and FLAVONOIDS. Ethanolic extracts from leaves and flowers displayed the highest inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase, showing potential properties against Alzheimer's disease. Antimicrobial assay showed that leaves and flowers extracts were active against all Gram-positive bacteria tested. The ethanolic leaves extract appeared to have the strongest antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus with MIC value of 312.5 g/mL followed by Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus that also exhibited good sensitivity withMIC values of 1250 g/mL.Moreover, all the extracts possessed anti-HIV activity.Theethanolic flower extractwas themost potent inhibitor of HIV-1 RTDNApolymerase RNA-dependent and Ribonuclease H with IC50 values of 0.26 and 0.33 μg/mL, respectively.The LC-DADmetabolic profile showed that ethanolic leaves extract contains high levels of quercetin derivatives. This study suggests that Euphorbia characias extracts represent a good source of natural bioactive compounds which could be useful for pharmaceutical application as well as in foodsystem for the prevention of the growth of food-borne bacteria and to extend the shelf-life of processed foods.