Evaluation of the artemisinin content of Artemisia annua L. grown in different Agro ecological zones of Cameroon

Abstract

Artemisinin and its derivatives are potent antimalarials that have become essential components of Artemisinin Based Combination Therapies (ACTs) for malaria treatment. Production of artemisinin is less compared to its world demand and access to ACTs is still limited in worst hit countries. Secondary metabolite production in plants depends on a number of factors including agro ecology. This work sought to evaluate the growth characteristics and artemisinin content of Artemisia annua grown in four agro ecological zones of Cameroon. Experimental fields comprising of A annua were set up in the different agro-ecological zones, for growth and artemisinin assessments. Artemisinin detection and quantification was compared in leaves/flowers and stems of Artemisia annua from these agro-ecological zones, using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography. Soil provenance and other agro ecological factors significantly affected the growth parameters of A. annua as there were significant differences (p<0.05) in plant height, leaf area, number of branches, stem girth and number of leaves across the different study areas. There was significant variation (P<0.05) in the content of artemisinin from the plant in the different agro ecological zones. The mean levels of artemisinin in the samples was 0.34-0.80% in stem samples, and 0.18-0.61% for leaves/flowers. The highest artemisinin yield in leaf/flowers samples (0.61%) was recorded in samples from Bamenda, while that of stem samples (0.80%) was recorded in samples from Ngaoundere. The study confirms the effect of agro ecological factors on artemisinin content of A. annua in Cameroon and reveal that A. annua grown in most regions of the country contain commercially viable levels of artemisinin which can further be exploited for pharmaceutical purposes.