Investigation of the Antioxidant and DNA Protective Activities of Euphorbia sp. (Spurge) by Different Methods

Spurge plants (Euphorbia sp.) are monoecious annual, biennial, or perennial herbs or shrubs with a milky latex sap that have long attracted botanical, chemical, and pharmaceutical interest. In Türkiye several Euphorbia species have been examined for chemical composition and for antioxidant or anticancer properties, but the biological activities of spurge material from the Sivas region had not previously been reported. In the present study, a Euphorbia sp. specimen was collected from the Sivas Cumhuriyet University campus area (Sivas, Türkiye) between May and August 2022. Taxonomic identification was carried out to the genus level only by Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Aşkın Akpulat (Department of Biology); no species-level determination or herbarium voucher was obtained. Stem material was extracted with ethanol, water, methanol, and ethyl acetate, and the antioxidant capacity and plasmid-DNA protective activity of the extracts were examined in vitro using DPPH radical scavenging, total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), and oxidative stress index (OSI) assays, together with a pBR322 plasmid-DNA damage-protection assessment. The ethanol extract showed the highest radical-scavenging activity (IC50 = 15.89 μg/mL) and the highest TAS value, whereas the plasmid-DNA protective activity of all extracts was weak under the assay conditions. Because the findings derive from a single genus-level specimen and one tissue, they are presented as a preliminary regional screening that may guide subsequent fractionation and phytochemical work rather than as species-general conclusions.