Abstract
The composition of the essential oil hydrodistilled from the aerial parts of 18 individual Artemisia herba-alba Asso. plants collected in southern Tunisia was determined by GC and GCMS analysis. The oil yield varied between 0.68% v/w and 1.93% v/w. One hundred components were identified, 21 of of which are reported for the first time in Artemisia herba-alba oil. The oil contained 10 components with percentages higher than 10%. The main components were cineole, thujones, chrysanthenone, camphor, borneol, chrysanthenyl acetate, sabinyl acetate, davana ethers and davanone. Twelve samples had monoterpenes as major components, three had sesquiterpenes as major components and the last three samples had approximately the same percentage of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The chemical compositions revealed that ten samples had compositions similar to those of other Artemisia herba-alba essential oils analyzed in other countries. The remaining eight samples had an original chemical composition.
Highlights
Artemisia herba-alba Asso. known as "desert wormwood" is a prominent plant of the IranoTuranien steppes of Spain, North Africa and the Middle East [1,2,3,4]
The chemical compositions revealed that ten samples had compositions similar to those of other Artemisia herba-alba essential oils analyzed in other countries
In order to study the chemical composition and variability of the A. herba-alba essential oils, 18 individual plants were collected from different populations located in Southern Tunisia
Summary
Artemisia herba-alba Asso. known as "desert wormwood" is a prominent plant of the IranoTuranien steppes of Spain, North Africa and the Middle East [1,2,3,4]. Studies from Spain [16, 17] showed that monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes are the most abundant skeletons in A. herba-alba oil, but large amounts of sesquiterpenes were found for some populations. In Morocco, the market leader in A. herba-alba essential oil exports, 16 chemotypes were found [20], with 12 having monoterpenes as major components and for four, sesquiterpene skeletons represent the major fraction of the oil. For Algerian oil monoterpenes were the major components, essentially camphor, α- and β-thujones, 1,8-cineole and chrysanthenyl derivatives [22,23]. In Tunisian oil oxygenated monoterpenes were found to be the major components of A. herba-alba oil extracted from aerial parts of plants originated from arid regions [24,25]. The aim of this study was to elucidate the chemical polymorphism of A. herba-alba from the sub-arid to Saharan domains in Tunisia
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