Nobel's harvest in Türkiye: Delving into Artemisia's spirit - essential oil content and antimicrobial potential of seven species

Abstract

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded due to the isolation of the active ingredient of artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone, from the plant Artemisia annua L. and proving its effectiveness in the treatment of malaria, and the chemical contents and biological activities of other Artemisia L. species aroused great interest. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the chemical content of essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of seven Artemisia species (A. abrotanum L., A. absinthium L., A. annua L., A. austriaca Jacq., A. chamaemelifolia Vill., A. incana (L.) Druce, A. tournefortiana Rchb.) growing in different regions of Turkiye and to evaluate their antimicrobial activities. The essential oils were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The main components are chrysanthenone (55.9%) for A. abrotanum, sabinyl acetate (23.0%) for A. absinthium, artemisia ketone (53.7%) for A. annua, camphor (34.2%) for A. austriaca, selin-11-en-4-α-ol (29.1%) for A. chamaemelifolia, camphor (29.7%) for A. incana, and (Z)-β-farnesene (71.5%) for A. tournefortiana. In vitro antimicrobial activity of essential oils against five microorganisms (Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) was investigated using the microdilution method. The highest activity against all species was observed in A. incana essential oil. Staphylococcus aureus was found to be the most sensitive bacteria to all essential oils.

Keywords

• Antimicrobial
• Artemisia
• essential oil
• GC
• GC-MS

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