Bioactive compounds isolated from Petroselinum crispum L. leaves using bioguided fractionation

The aim of the present work was to evaluate the phytochemical composition and phytotoxicity of Pet-roselinum crispum L. The phytotoxicity of the aqueous and organic (methanol, petroleum ether andchloroform) extracts of the leaves was determined. The methanol extract induced complete inhibi-tion of lettuce germination and shoots growth and 97% inhibition of root growth. Thus, the methanolicresidue was partitioned between dichloromethane and water. The bioactive dichloromethane sub-fractions were chromatographed and the purified compounds were characterized by NMR analysis.Based on bioassay-guided fractionation, four compounds were isolated and identified as pabulenol,oxypeucedanin, oxypeucedanin hydrate and N-(2-phenylethyl) hexanamide then, tested on lettuce ger-mination and growth. The most inhibitory compound was N-(2-phenylethyl) hexanamide followed byoxypeucedanin hydrate, pabulenol and oxypeucedanin.