Antioxidant and Anti-Microbial Properties of Euphorbia condylocarpa Roots under Hot-air Drying Conditions

Drying kinetics of roots of Euphorbia condylocarpa M.Bieb. plant was studied. The root slices were dried at four temperature levels, also in shadow as control in three replications. The dried samples were considered for evaluation the total phenolic compounds (TPCs), free radical scavenging capacity inhibitory 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, inhibiting gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. The obtained results were compared with control treatments. The analysis of variance showed a significant difference in 1% level for the main effects of temperature, thickness, and their interaction on drying time, TPC and changes of inhibiting P. aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The results indicated that the highest content of total phenolic compounds were obtained at 40 °C, and 7 mm, and increasing the free radical scavenging capacity of 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl was achieved at 60 °C, and 7 mm. In addition, the highest inhibition zone values for the gram-positive bacterium of Staphylococcus aureus were obtained for the samples dried at 50 °C and thickness of 7 mm while the highest inhibition zone values for gram-negative bacterium of P. aeruginosa was obtained at 50 °C and 3 mm thickness.