Antibacterial activity of parsley

Tomov A.¹, Doycheva A.¹, Satchanska G.¹

^{1 –} Dept. Natural Sciences, New Bulgarian University, 21.Montevideo Str. 1618 Sofia

   Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is one of the best-known natural diuretic and possesses antioxidant and cancer chemopreventive effects. Even though parsley displays biological activity, data according its antibacterial action is still scarce. The aim of our research was to examine the antibacterial activity of parsley leafs and stems against test bacteria Bacillus subtilis N^o8751 and Escherichia coli N^o8752 (deposited in the National Bank for Microorganisms and Cell Cultures). Leafs and stems were homogenized using a mortar and pestle. 0.1 ml of test bacteria (1x10⁹CFU/ml) were spread on Nutrient agar. The homogenised samples were placed in aseptically perforated Nutrient agar wells. The petri dishes were cultivated at 37^oC for 24 hours. Our results showed that parsley leafs inhibit the growth of B. subtilis (0.5cm. inhibition zone) and are not active against E. coli (0 cm.). Similar results were obtained also for parsley stems: against B. subtilis the inhibition zone length was 0.6 cm. in contrast to E. coli where no inhibition zone was noted. Our investigation revealed that parsley leafs and stems inhibit only the growth of Gram (+) bacteria.

Key words: parsley, leafs and stems, antibacterial activity, Gram (+) bacteria, Gram (-) bacteria