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Composition and Intraspecific Chemical Variability of the Essential Oil from Artemisia herba‐alba Growing Wild in a Tunisian Arid Zone
Author(s) -
Mighri Hédi,
Akrout Ahmed,
Eljeni Hajer,
Zaidi Slah,
Tomi Félix,
Casanova Joseph,
Neffati Mohamed
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
chemistry and biodiversity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.427
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1612-1880
pISSN - 1612-1872
DOI - 10.1002/cbdv.201000054
Subject(s) - chemotype , camphor , borneol , essential oil , chemistry , artemisia , botany , biology , food science , organic chemistry , medicine , alternative medicine , traditional chinese medicine , pathology
The intraspecific chemical variability of essential oils (50 samples) isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia herba‐alba Asso growing wild in the arid zone of Southeastern Tunisia was investigated. Analysis by GC ( RI ) and GC/MS allowed the identification of 54 essential oil components. The main compounds were β ‐thujone and α ‐thujone, followed by 1,8‐cineole, camphor, chrysanthenone, trans ‐sabinyl acetate, trans ‐pinocarveol, and borneol. Chemometric analysis ( k ‐means clustering and PCA) led to the partitioning into three groups. The composition of two thirds of the samples was dominated by α ‐thujone or β ‐thujone. Therefore, it could be expected that wild plants of A. herba‐alba randomly harvested in the area of Kirchaou and transplanted by local farmers for the cultivation in arid zones of Southern Tunisia produce an essential oil belonging to the α ‐thujone/ β ‐thujone chemotype and containing also 1,8‐cineole, camphor, and trans ‐sabinyl acetate at appreciable amounts.