ABSTRACT

Artemisia annua L. (Asteraceae) is an aromatic annual herb, up to 2 m in height, found in temperate Asia, especially China and naturalized in many countries of the world. The plant is prescribed against fever, malaria, skin diseases, jaundice, malignant ulcers and haemorrhoids. Phytochemical investigation of the aerial parts of A. annua led to the isolation of alkyl alcohols, fatty acid esters, alkyl glucoside and fatty acids characterized as n-nonadecan-2-ol (1), n-heptadecanyl n-octadec-9,12-dienoate (2), n-octacosanyl alcohol (3), n-nonacosanyl n-octadec-9,12-dienoate (4), n-cos-(Z)-10-enoic.acid (5), nheptadecanyl- β-D-glucopyranoside (6), n-docosan-9β-ol (7), n-cos-(Z)-9-enoic acid (8) and n-octadecanyl, n-octadec-9,12,-dienoate (9). The structures of all phytoconstituents, isolated for the first time from A. annua, have been elucidated on the basis of spectral data analysis and chemical reactions.