Abstract
Artemisia dracunculus L. (tarragon), Asteraceae, is a species that has long been used in traditional Asian medicine, mainly in Iran, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and India. It is known as a spice species in Asia, Europe and the Americas. The raw materials obtained from this species are herb and leaf. The presence of essential oil with a highly variable composition, as well as flavonoids, phenolic acids, coumarins and alkamides, determines the medicinal and/or spice properties of the plant. In traditional Asian medicine, this species is used, for example, in the treatment of digestive system diseases, as an analgesic, hypnotic, antiepileptic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic agent, and as an effective remedy in the treatment of helminthiasis. Nowadays, A. dracunculus is the subject of professional phytochemical and pharmacological researches. Pharmacological studies have confirmed its anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects known from traditional uses; they have also proved very important new findings regarding its biological activity, such as antioxidant, immunomodulating and anti-tumour activities, as well as hepatoprotective and hypoglycaemic effects. A. dracunculus has long-held an established position in the food industry as a spice. And its use is growing in the cosmetics industry. Moreover, it is the subject of biotechnological research focused mainly on the development of micro-propagation protocols.
Highlights
Over the last few years, there has been a noticeable increase in interest in phytochemical and pharmacological studies concerning various species of the genus Artemisia L (Asteraceae) (Tan et al, 1998; Willcox, 2009; Koul and Taak, 2017)
A. dracunculus has been a frequent subject of research in the last few years, regarding both the chemistry and biological activity of extracts obtained from the herb and/or leaves, and the essential oil
Phytochemical tests have confirmed the presence of numerous flavonoid compounds, phenolic acids, coumarins and alkamides in the herb and leaves, as well as a very high variability of the chemical composition of the essential oil
Summary
Over the last few years, there has been a noticeable increase in interest in phytochemical and pharmacological studies concerning various species of the genus Artemisia L (Asteraceae) (Tan et al, 1998; Willcox, 2009; Koul and Taak, 2017). In Europe, this species is a popular spice plant; in Asian countries (Iran, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, India), this species has long been used in traditional medicine It has been used both in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases and as an anesthetic, hypnotic and anti-epileptic agent. Antifungal and antiprotozoal properties have been documented, together with its extremely valuable antioxidant, immunomodulatory and antineoplastic properties (Abtahi Froushani et al, 2016; Hassanzadeh et al, 2016; Bedini et al, 2017; Navarro-Salcedo et al, 2017; Mohammadi et al, 2020) These studies have been proven to have hepatoprotective, hypoglycaemic and thyroid regulating effects (Méndez-Del Villar et al, 2016; Zarezade et al, 2018; Mohammadi et al, 2020). The paper encompasses all previously known information concerning its biology and chemistry as well as the traditional medicine and culinary applications of the species under consideration
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