Determination of heavy metals and species-specific secondary metabolites of some Euphorbia species by ICP-MS, LC-MS/MS (including method validation) and LC-MS-IT-TOF; identification of antioxidant and anticancer properties

Euphorbiaceae is a very common family in our country and in the world. Euphorbiaceae is one of the biggest families that has around 5 000 species gathered under 331 genus. Euphorbia L. genus that belongs to Euphorbiaceae family is represented by aproximately 2 000 species. Especially, they are rich sources of terpenoids, coumarin, steroids and aromatic compounds. There are 111 Euphorbia L. species in our country 14 of which are endemic. Many species of Euphorbia L. genus are used for therapeutic purposes in public. There are reports that some species are effective against warts and skin cancer; and have antiviral, antiflamatory, antipyretic and analgesic properties. Besides, it is known that they have antitumor, antifungal, antibacterial and cytotoxic properties. There are a great many studies which show that their terpenoid content is responsible for these properties. The most prominent feature of the Euphorbia genus is that it contains irritating milk. Their irritant properties are thought to originate from macrocyclic type diterpenes. In this study, various chemical and biological parameters of some Euphorbia species, commonly known as sparrows and widely used in breeding studies, have been examined. In addition to the development of a new LC-MS/MS method, phenolic contents of the studied species were screened by the LC-MS/MS method previously developed by our group. Fatty acid and essential oil contents were determined by GC-MS. Additionally, heavy metal content was determined by ICP-MS. On the other hand, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of the extracts were investigated. All of the studied species were found to be poor in total phenolic content-rich in total flavonoid content. E. Macroclada species is richer in terms of phenolic content than other studied species. E. grisophylla species is determined to have quite high antioxidant potential in all antioxidant methods. Species except from E. fistulosa were determined to show no or little anticholinesterase activity. It was found to be a valuable information that E. falcata did not show any toxic effect on the healthy cell line and show cytotoxic effect on the DLD-1 cell line. When we look at the LC-MS/MS screening results, it has been found that generally the studied Euphorbia species are rich in terms of quinic and tannic acids as well as flavonoids such as rutin, hesperidin and hyperoside. When the studied species were investigated in terms of their heavy metal contents, they were determined to be higher than the literature results. Therefore, it can be said that Euphorbia species have the potential to be used in breeding studies