M.H. Mirjalili*, S.M.F. Tabatabaei and J. Hadian, S. Nejad Ebrahimi and A. Sonboli

Abstract: Variation in the quantity and quality of the essential oil of Artemisia scoparia Waldst. et Kit at different developmental growth stages including vegetative, floral budding and flowering are reported. The oils were obtained by hydrodistillation of air-dried samples. The yields of oils (w/w %) in different stages were in the order of: flowering (0.9%)> floral budding (0.7%)> vegetative (0.4%). The oils were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. In total, 25, 23 and 18 constituents were identified and quantified in the oils of vegetative, floral budding and flowering plants, representing 98.4 %, 98.5% and 98.7% of the oils, respectively. a- and b-Thujone and 1,8-cineole were the main compounds in all samples. a-Thujone, was lower in the vegetative stage and increased in the subsequent harvesting times to reach maximum in flowering. In contrast, b-thujone, was higher in the vegetative stage and decreased during flowering. Oxygenated monoterpenes were the main group of compounds in flowering (97.9%), floral budding (96.6%) and vegetative (93.4%) stage.

The genus <i>Artemisia L</i>. known as wormwoods is one of the largest of herbs in the Asteraceae family, consisting of more than 800 species that are spread widely throughout the world, especially, in Southwest of Asia and Central Europe (1–3). It has alternate, entire and strongly scented leaves, and flowers inconspicuously grown on heads (4). They are valuable edge plants and grow in semi-desert areas where extremes of temperature, both high and low, predominate (5). Several <i>Artemisia</i> species have medicinal importance and are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of a variety of diseases and complaints (6,7). The essential oils of some <i>Artemisia</i> species are also used in soaps, detergents, cosmetics and perfumes, as aromatherapy claims (8,9). In the flora of Iran, the genus comprises about 34 species (10). <i>Artemisia scoparia</i> (Persian local names of Terekh and Jarooy e Mashhadi) is a faintly scented very slender branched biennial herb (11). In Iranian traditional medicine, the aerial parts of the plant have been widely used for their hypolipidaemic, hypoglycemic, antiinflammatory and diuretic activities (12). Also, fresh leaves are consumed as a vegetable and dried leaves are used as a spice by local peoples of Khorasan province of Iran. The plant extract is used as a purgative, to treat earache and fever (13). A hydro-methanolic extract of the plant has also been shown hepatoprotective activity against acetaminophen-induced hepatic damage (14). It is reported that a chemical ‘scoparone’ found in <i>A. scoparia</i> which is useful for the development of better immunosuppressive agents with vasorelaxant actions which use against transplantation rejection and autoimmune disease (15). Several phytochemical investigations on <i>A. scoparia</i> have been conducted and some flavonoids (16), coumarins (17,18), vanillin (19) p-hydroxyacetophenone (20) and lanostene-type triterpenes (21) have been reported. The oils isolated from three different samples of <i>A. scoparia</i> collected from China have already been analyzed and three different chemotypes as 1,8-cineole, capillene and eugenol have been characterized (22).