Essential oils, from Artemisia annua

Essential oil from A. annua is another active research interest as it could be potentially used in perfume, cosmetics, and aromatherapy. Depending on its geographical origin, the oil yield in A. annua ranges from 0.02% to 0.49% on a fresh weight basis and from 0.04% to 1.9% on a dry weight basis. The major components in the oil were reported to be artemisia ketone (80), isoartemisia ketone (81), 1,8-cineole (82), and camphor (83) (Structure 5-5). GC/MS was employed to analyze the chemical composition in the essential oil more than 70 constituents have been identified. For more detailed information on the oil composition of essential oil from A. annua, the readers are referred to Refs. 65, 66 and 72-81. 

The antiparasitic properties of essential oils from A. absinthium, Artemisia annua, and Artemisia scoparia were tested on intestinal parasites Hymenolepis nana, Lamblia intestinalis, Syphacia obvelata, and Trichocephalus muris Trichuris muris). Infested white mice were injected with 0.01 mL/g of the essential oils (6%) twice a day for 3 days. The effectiveness of the essential oils was observed in 70% 90% of the tested animals (Chobanov et al., 2004). 

The occurrence and syntheses of rose oxides, dihydrorose oxides, rosefuran, and nerol oxides, together with related compounds, have been reviewed. The structure of a cyclic monoterpenoid ether from Artemisia tridentata, which is related to the santolinyl monoterpenoids, has been confirmed (c/. Vol, 7, p. 20) as (227) and renamed artemiseole (c/. Vol. 8, p. 58 for an incorrect structural deduction).Interestingly, another new component of A. tridentata, the (3S)-diastereoisomer of (74), with formic acid yields (227) in contrast to (74) which yields the acyclic aldehyde (228). ° It is possible that some of the 31% of unidentified components in the essential oil of A. annua may correspond to these new compounds.The quinone (229) has been isolated from Lithospermum erythrofhizon, and further details on the presence of aeginetolide in Aeginetia indica have been published. 

Occurrence Usually a mixture of A. and iso-A. is isolated Artemisia oil, obtained from the annual mugwort. (Artemisia annua, Asteraceae) in the flowering season contains a ca. 30% mixture of A. and iso-A. 65% mixtures occur in the essential oil of lavender cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus, Asteraceae). 

Further relevant essential oil investigations have been performed the early works using FID, while the more recent ones using, preferably, a TOFMS as detector. Among the essential oils previously studied by means of GC x GC are peppermint [122] and Australian sandalwood [123], with the latter also analyzed through GC x GC-TOFMS in the same work. Essential oils derived from Thymbra spicata [124], Pistacia vera [125], hop [126], Teucrium chamaedrys [127], Rosa dama-scena [128], coriander [129], and Artemisia annua [130], as well as tobacco [131], have also been subjected to GC x GC-TOFMS analyses. The references cited herein represent only a fraction of the studies performed by means of GC x GC on essential oils. 

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