Chemotaxonomy Significant in Delimitation of Six Taxa of Euphorbia L. in Iraq

Abstract

Six taxa of Euphorbia L. (E. hirta L., E. milii var. milii, E. milii cv. White, E. prostrata Aiton, E. hypericifolia L. and E. serpens Kunth) collected from different location in Baghdad were extracted and the phytochemical screening of hexane crude extracts of six taxa of Euphorbia revealed that the most distributed phytochemical compounds were saponins in all taxa except E. prostrata, however, alkaloids have been reported in E. hypericifolia, E. milii cv. White and E. milii var. milii, on the other hand, glycosides have been stated in E. prostrata and E. serpens. Flavonoids and phenols have been noticed in E. serpens only, while terpenes and tannins found in E. prostata and E. hirta respectively. However, the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrum of methanol extract of six taxa of Euphorbia analysis explained the presence of twenty seven different chemical compounds and two new terpenoids (trans-Geranylgeraniol and Squalene) from E. milii cv. White. Agglomerative Hierarchical cluster analysis (AHC) stated close chemical relations between all the studied species, the first group comprises E. hirta and E. hypericifolia showed close relationship due to the presence of natural compounds as fatty acids, esters and aromatic alcohols However, E. prostata and E. serpens were close correlated in one group together which characterized by presence of phenols, esters and fatty acids. The anthor group contains E. milli var. milli and E. milli cv. White characterized by the abundance of di- and tri-terpenoids in addition to other natural chemical products.