Abstract
Artemisia annua L. (Asteraceae) still represents the only source of artemisinin, considered as one of the most important drugs for the treatment of malaria and which, more recently, has been shown to be effective against numerous types of tumors. The foliage and inflorescence of A. annua also yield an essential oil upon hydrodistillation. This oil has been evaluated at different development stages (pre-flowering and flowering) by GC/MS. The volatile oil from plants at full blooming showed numerous constituents, with germacrene D (21.2%), camphor (17.6%), β-farnesene (10.2%), β-caryophyllene (9%), and bicyclogermacrene (4.2%) among the main ones. Aromatic waters, after extraction with n-hexane, showed the presence, among others, of camphor (27.7%), 1,8-cineole (14%), artemisia ketone (10.1%), α-terpineol (6.1%), trans-pinocarveol (5.4%), and artemisia alcohol (2%). From plants at the pre-flowering stage, aromatic waters were obtained with camphor (30.7%), 1,8-cineole (12.8%), artemisia alcohol (11.4%), artemisia ketone (9.5%), alpha-terpineol (5.8%), and trans-pinocarveol (3.0%) as the main constituents. The qualitative and quantitative profiles of the two aromatic waters were similar. These results permitted the conclusion to be made that A. annua could be harvested a long time before the onset of flowering to obtain higher yields of artemisinin or could be allowed to attain maturity to obtain valuable yields of volatiles.