Wound healing activity of TawaTawa

177
Global Journal of Medicinal Plant Research, 1(2): 177-183, 2013
ISSN 2074-0883

Assessment of the safety of tawa-tawa (Euphorbia hirta L.) decoction as alternative folkloric medicine
1

Sharon Rose M. Tabugo, 1Rolliebert B. Rampola, 2Edgar Vasallo Jr., 1Ma. Reina Suzette B.
Madamba

1

Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics, MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology,
Iligan City;
2
Capitol University, Cagayan de Oro City
ABSTRACT
Euphorbia hirta L., plant is a pantropic weed, widely distributed in the Philippines. Folkloric use of tawatawa (E. hirta L.), as alternative treatment and prevention for various ailments has been promoted and patronized due to the increasing trend in the quest for inexpensive alternative medicines compared to commercial drugs. Nowadays, the traditional decoction preparation has been widely used however, the safety of its oral use against normal microflora, is still ambiguous despite traditional practice hence, this study. The disc diffusion method was used to determine the antibacterial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria (standard strains and clinical isolates). Antibacterial activity was tested on E. coli, S. aureus, B. subtilis and P. aeruginosa. Results show that there was no formation of any zone of inhibition as observed after 24 hrs.
Thus, this justifies the traditional use of the plant as decoction treatment for various ailments. Various concentrations of crude extracts diluted in distilled water were also tested for comparison purposes but it yielded the same results as the decoction procedure. Since, the results were negative for any antibacterial potential, the use of tawa-tawa decoction for oral intake should be highly recommended in the treatment of various conditions without the risk of altering the normal flora of microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract. Hence, it is safe to use. Key words: Euphorbia hirta L., tawa-tawa, decoction

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