Wormseed, Levant

Artemisia gmelini Weber ex Stechmann Bai Lian Guo (Levant wormseed) (whole plant) Essential oils, borneol, cineole, camphor, azulene, isovaleric acid, umbelliferone, scopoletin, genkwanin.48 Treat liver diseases, stop bleeding, arthritis, bronchitis. 

Santonin (la,b), an effective drug for treating intestinal roundwormS/ was first isolated from unexpanded flower heads of Artemesia plants (Levant Wormseed) grown in Russian and Chinese Turkestan and the Southern Ural region. The structure of this compound was established by Clemo et al. [2,3] and Ruzicka and Steiner [4]. Santonin exists in two forms, a-santonin and p-santonin, the stereochemistry of which has been worked out by several workers [5-7]. 

Oil of Levant Wormseed. Volatile oil from the flowers of Artemisia maritima var stechmanniana Bess (A. pauciflora Weber), Compositae. Constit Largely eucalyptol (cineol)... 

Santonica. Levant wormseed. Dried, unexpanded flower heads of Artemisia maritima L., sens, lat., Compasitae. Habit, Iran, Turkestan. Constit. 2-4% santonin, 2-3% volatile oil artemisin, resin. 

Santonin (7.30) occurs in the oil known as Levant Wormseed Oil. This oil is not extracted from the seeds, but from the unopened flower heads of several herbs of the family Artemisia, principally from Artemisia maritima. Its use in folk medicine for the treatment of intestinal worms stems from the anthelmintic properties of santonin. Santonin undergoes a number of very interesting reactions, three of which are summarised in Figure 7.9. 

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