ABSTRACT
The genus Artemisia, which comprises about 400 species, belongs to the Asteraceae family and is the largest of the flowering plants. Most representatives are aromatic herbs or shrubs. They are mainly found in the northern hemisphere. Several Artemisia species have been or are used medicinally and hence are of more or less commercial value. In Western herbal medicine they include, among others, Artemisia abrotanum L., Artemisia absintbium L., Artemisia cina Berg, Artemisia dracunculus L., Artemisia maritima L., Artemisia pontica L. and Artemisia vulgaris L. (Frohne and Jensen 1992, Evans 1996). In traditional Chinese herbal medicine the following Artemisia species are used: Artemisia annua L., Artemisia argyi Levl. et Vant., Artemisia scoparia Waldst. et Kit. and Artemisia capillaris Thunb. (Tang and Eisenbrand 1992). In addition, Artemisia annua L. is a source of artemisinin, which is the mother compound of a novel class of antimalarial drugs (Woerdenbag et al., 1990, 1994a).
