Natural Ingredients

ABSINTHIUM

Source: Artemisia absinthium L. (Family
Compositae or Asteraceae).

Common/vernacular names: Absinthe, absinthe
grande, absinthium, armoise, common worm-
wood, wermut, wermutkraut, and wormwood.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Artemisia absinthiumis a shrubby perennial
herb with grayish white stems covered with
fine silky hairs, 30–90 cm high; leaves also
silky, hairy, and glandular, 2–3-pinnatisect,
petiolate lobes, mostly obtuse; odor aromatic,
spicy; taste bitter; native to Europe, northern
Africa, and western Asia, naturalized in North
America; extensively cultivated. Parts used
are the leaves and flowering tops (fresh and
dried), harvested just before or during flower-
ing; from these a volatile oil is obtained by
steam distillation (EVANS;FERNALD;YOUNGKEN).

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

Artemisia absinthiumcontains up to 1.7%
volatile oil composed mainly of thujone (a-
andb-)andb-caryophyllene.^1 Bitterprinciples
include artabsin (analogous monomer of ab-
sinthin), dimeric guaianolides (absinthin and
absintholide),2,3artabsinolides A–C (EVANS),
and artemetin (5-hydroxy-3,6,7,3^0 ,4^0 -penta-
methoxyflavone);^4 other isolated lactones in-
clude arabsin,^5 artabin,^6 ketopelenolide a
(a germacranolide),^7 artenolide, artemoline,
and deacetylglobicin (monomeric guaiano-
lides),^8 anabsin, and isoabsinthin (dimeric
guaianolides).5,7,9,10Other constituents pres-
entinrelativelyhighamountsin theoilinclude

sabinene,trans-sabinyl acetateþlavandulyl

acetate, ()-sabinyl acetate, (Z)-epoxy-a-

ocimene, chrysanthendiol (þ), and chry-

santhenyl acetate, among others.11–13Cadi-

nene, camphene, bisabolene, thujyl alcohol,

myrcene, 1,8-cineole, and azulenes (e.g., cha-

mazulene, 3,6-dihydrochamazulene, and 5,6-

dihydrochamazulene)arealsofound.11,13Cha-

mazuleneatconcentrationsofupto0.29%was

detected in the flowers at the beginning of

flowering.^14 Also, ()- andtrans-epoxyoci-

meneswereisolatedfromanItalianabsinthium

oil of which they constituted 16–57%.^15

Varying geographical origin, altitude, and

exposures affect qualitative and quantitative dif-

ferences in the essential oil. The volatile oil of

different chemotypes can contain>40% of ei-

therp-thujone, chrysanthenyl acetate,trans-sa-

binylacetate,or()-epoxyocimene(EVANS).11,14

PlantmaterialcollectedinArgentina(Patagonia)

was composed of 59.9%b-thujone (2.34%a-

thujone),sabinylacetate(18.11%),()-epoxyo-

cimene (1.48%), caryophyllene (1.92%), linalo-

ol (1.15%), and sabinene (1.09%), with trace

amounts ofa-pinene,a-terpineol, germacrene

D, neryl acetate, neryl propionate, nerol, geranyl

propionate, and geraniol (<1% each).^13

Miscellaneous constituents of the plant

include inulobiose (an oligofructoside),^16

coumarins (scopoletin, umbelliferone), phe-

nolic acids, flavonoids,17–19amino acids,^19

tannins (4.0–7.7%),^20 lignans (3,7-dioxabicy-

clo[3,3,0]-octanes),^7 pipecolic acid,^21 and

sterols, including an antipyretic sterol (24z-

ethylcholesta-7,22-dien-3b-ol).22,23

PHARMACOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL

ACTIVITIES

Despite the postulation that thujone and

tetrahydrocannabinol, active principles of

1