Abstract
The genus Artemisia, often known collectively as “wormwood”, has aroused great interest in the scientific community, pharmaceutical and food industries, generating many studies on the most varied aspects of these plants. In this review, the most recent evidence on health effects of edible Artemisia species and some of its constituents are presented and discussed, based on studies published until 2020, available in the Scopus, Web of Sciences and PubMed databases, related to food applications, nutritional and sesquiterpene lactones composition, and their therapeutic effects supported by in vivo and clinical studies. The analysis of more than 300 selected articles highlights the beneficial effect on health and the high clinical relevance of several Artemisia species besides some sesquiterpene lactones constituents and their derivatives. From an integrated perspective, as it includes therapeutic and nutritional properties, without ignoring some adverse effects described in the literature, this review shows the great potential of Artemisia plants and some of their constituents as dietary supplements, functional foods and as the source of new, more efficient, and safe medicines. Despite all the benefits demonstrated, some gaps need to be filled, mainly related to the use of raw Artemisia extracts, such as its standardization and clinical trials on adverse effects and its health care efficacy.
Highlights
Artemisia genus (Asteraceae family) comprise more than 2290 plant name records in the “The Plant List” database, being only 530 of these taxa with accepted Latin botanical name [1], which shows how challenging the taxonomy of this genus is
Artemisia vulgaris L. is native to Europe and Asia but has a large distribution in natural habitats worldwide, can be found in abundance in very distant areas ranging from Africa, North America to the Himalayas and Australia [5]
Given the large number of papers published on the theme of health effects of products related to Artemisia species, all publications related to in vitro studies were excluded from this review
Summary
Artemisia genus (Asteraceae family) comprise more than 2290 plant name records in the “The Plant List” database, being only 530 of these taxa with accepted Latin botanical name [1], which shows how challenging the taxonomy of this genus is. Given the large number of papers published on the theme of health effects of products related to Artemisia species (plant, extracts, pure compounds, studies in vitro, in vivo and clinical trials), all publications related to in vitro studies were excluded from this review These studies are essential for a first assessment of the species’ potential, they are the ones that are farthest from the final objective, which is, the application in patients. This review is intended to gather and discuss the most impactful research concerning the health effects of edible Artemisia species, based on their applications as food, their nutritional composition and therapeutic applications supported by clinical studies.
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