Intraspecific chemical variabilty and drug quality of wormwood (<i>Artemisia absinthium</i> L.)

Abstract

One hundred and twenty individuals from twelve accessions of Artemisia absinthium were grown under universal circumstances in order to evaluate the quality of the drug. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by the GC-MS method. The essential oil yield was quite variable with significant differences among accessions. Highest yield was produced by “Spanish” accession (3.215ml/100g), “Norwegen”, “German 2” and “Belgien” produced medium values (1.569-2.089 ml/100g) and eight accessions showed EO yields below 1% (0.349-0.832 ml/100g). Major components of the oils were a-thujone (0%-51.7%), ß-thujone (0%-89.8%), cis-Epoxyocimene (0%-75.7%), trans-sabinyl acetate (0%-94.5%), sabinene (0%-33.8%), ß-myrcene (0%-68.4%), linalool (0%-52.1%), cis-chrysanthenol (0%-37.3%), (Z)-iso-citral (0%-49.2%), selin-11- en-4-a-ol (0%-58%) and (E)-nuciferol isobutyrate (0%-33.2%). Based on these main compounds ten characteristic chemotypes were identified. The majority of the accessions were heterogenous concerning appearance of chemotypes. A connection between chemotype and habitat can not be justified in most cases. Drug quality of both natural populations and those purchased on market is variable.