Influence of postharvest treatments on the artemisinin content of leaves of Artemisia annua (original) (raw)

Characterization of element and mineral content in Artemisia annua and Camellia sinensis leaves by handheld X-ray fluorescence

African Journal of Biotechnology, 2013

Tea infusion is the most frequently worldwide consumed beverage next to water, with about 20 billion cups consumed daily. Artemisia annua leaves contain comparable levels of nutrients and mineral elements (dry matter basis) to many marketed tea (Camellia sinensis) leading us to suspect that this crop could also serve as an alternative source of nutrients for humans. Analyzer moveable X-ray fluorescence is used to evaluate the content of major, minor and toxic elements in A. annua from two different countries compared to six marketed tea in Senegal. To ensure qualified results, certified reference materials were used to perform the calibration. The very low and often negligible levels of inherent elements in the leaves, which are far below recommended toxic levels, establishes A. annua and selected marketed tea as a good reservoir of elements that might favour its use as a potential herbal tonic by humans. The mineral elements are present in different kinds of herbal leaves in various proportions depending on soil composition and the climate in which the plant grows.

Sample Plant species Label Provenance Commercial area TEA A Artemisia annua Artemisia annua Luxembourg Luxembourg TEA B Artemisia annua Artemisia annua Cameroon Cameroon TEA 1 Camellia sinensi Flecha China Senegal TEA

2013

Tea infusion is the most frequently worldwide consumed beverage next to water, with about 20 billion cups consumed daily. Artemisia annua leaves contain comparable levels of nutrients and mineral elements (dry matter basis) to many marketed tea (Camellia sinensis) leading us to suspect that this crop could also serve as an alternative source of nutrients for humans. Analyzer moveable X-ray fluorescence is used to evaluate the content of major, minor and toxic elements in A. annua from two different countries compared to six marketed tea in Senegal. To ensure qualified results, certified reference materials were used to perform the calibration. The very low and often negligible levels of inherent elements in the leaves, which are far below recommended toxic levels, establishes A. annua and selected marketed tea as a good reservoir of elements that might favour its use as a potential herbal tonic by humans. The mineral elements are present in different kinds of herbal leaves in variou...

Phytochemical analysis of a herbal tea from Artemisia annua L

Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis, 2012

Strategies to control diffusion of malaria needs to account for the increase of resistance of the parasite to the conventional antimalarial drugs. It has been proposed that a traditional aqueous preparation from Artemisia annua, with a low content of the active compound, artemisinin, may reduce the risk of resistance of the protozoa and be relatively more effective in the treatment of the disease. The solubility properties of the molecule have been the matter of concern about the therapeutic usefulness of herbal teas from A. annua. The present study aimed at analysing the chemical profile of a tea infusion from A. annua. Tea from A. annua was prepared through infusion of the plant aerial parts in water for 1, 24 and 48h. Content of artemisinin was determined by HPLC-ELSD. Overall chemical characterization of the extracts was carried out by a combination of metabolomic techniques. The artemisinin content varied only slightly in the three different extracts (about 0.12%). A series of ...

Electrochemical Determination of Artemisinin in Artemisia annua L Herbal Tea Preparation and Optimization of Tea Making Approach

Journal of the Korean Chemical Society, 2011

Sometimes inhabitants in remote areas have inadequate or no access to modern medicines or medical services. They can get benefit in term of the treatment against malaria by cultivating selected breeding of A. annua and making teas or decoctions from the plant materials following the proper way of tea preparation. In order to have the maximum extraction efficiency for artemisinin, different ways of tea preparations of A. annua were investigated by applying the developed DPP method and described in this article. Tea was prepared by three different ways (cooking, without cooking with/without shaking and microwave oven) with different times. From the results, it has been found that higher concentration of artemisinin (84.7%) can be attained by following the approach for tea preparation without cooking with shaking for 15 minutes (R.S.D. 2.34%). The concentration of artemisinin decreases with cooking more than 1.5 min in microwave oven. The utmost extraction (88.9% of artemisinin) is possible to extract by shaking with boiled 5% ethanol in distilled water (R.S.D. 2.28%).

Nutritional characterisation and antioxidant capacity of different tissues of Artemisia annua L

Food Chemistry, 2009

Evaluation of different tissues of Artemisia annua for their nutritional contents and antioxidant potential demonstrated that the leaves and inflorescences had the highest percentage of protein, crude fat and in vitro digestible fractions but the lowest levels of detergent fibres. These tissues also had the highest composition of the major elements as well as manganese and copper. Their relatively high amino acid and vitamin profiles equally reflect a desirable nutritional balance adding to their high antioxidant capacities. Collectively, these high levels of the different nutritional constituents and antioxidant activities coupled with the very low and often negligible levels of inherent anti-nutritive factors, especially in the leaves, which are far below recommended toxic levels, establishes A. annua as a good reservoir of nutrients and antioxidants that might favour its use as a potential herbal tonic by humans or an important supplementary feed additive for livestock production systems.

Artemisia annua: A New Version of a Traditional Tea under Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial for the Treatment of Malaria

Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, 2016

Introduction: The traditional antimalarial tea Artemisia annua, indicated for centuries in China to treat fevers, is again arousing interest for the treatment of malaria due to improvements attained in the plant composition by a few Institutions throughout the world, including the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil, increasing its principal component by more than 100 times as from standard varieties, giving 1% in artemisinin and an expressive biomass yield such as 2 tons of dried leaves/hectare. Clinical trials carried out with this material in African countries have proven its therapeutic potential for a new generation of Artemisia tea in the treatment of falciparum malaria. In addition to artemisinin, recent studies have identified and quantified other compounds present in the crude extract and characterized their contributions to the anti-malarial efficacy, including their action against chloroquineresistant strains. The majority of the clinical trials carried out with Artemisia tea in African countries have shown that the control of the parasitaemia is efficient in the initial treatment period, but few trials have followed the patients up to the 28 th day. This first clinical trial carried out in Brazil with the A. annua infusion, after toxicological trials that defined the safety of this form of medication. Methods: The therapeutic efficacy of the tea was measured in patients with falciparum malaria over 28 days, comparing it with the current first-line treatment namely artemether-lumefantrine (CoartemĀ®).

A study on elemental contents of medicinally important species of Artemisia L. (Asteraceae) found in Pakistan

Genus Artemisia is cosmopolitan in distribution and its several species are being used in folk therapeutic treatments worldwide. In this study, elemental compositions of seventeen indigenous species (A. scoparia, A. absinthium, A. indica, A. santolinifolia, A. maritime, A. vulgaris, A. japonica, A. nilagirica, A. herba-alba, A. annua, A. brevifolia, A. moorcroftiana, A. dracunculus, A. roxburghiana and A. dubia) that are commonly used against ailments in Pakistan were studied for the first time through atomic absorption spectrophotometry methods. In this study we observed nine trace elements namely Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Co, Cd, Pb, Mn, Fe and four major elements that are K, Na, Ca and Mg in these species. Further it is observed that in few sepses the concentration of heavy metals are found over and above the normal concentration levels than the international safety standards prescribed for medicinal plants. This study also discusses the impacts of heavy metal toxicity in humans.

Acute toxicity studies of locally cultivated Artemisia annua leaf extract in Rats

Artemisia annua is a medicinal plant native to China and well known for its antiplasmodial, antirheumatic and anticancer properties. The acute toxicity, phytochemical screening and elemental analysis of hexane extract of A.annua were investigated. 1000, 2000, 2500mg/kg of the hexane leaf extract A. annua were administered intraperitoneally to the test groups while distilled water was given to the control group. The parameters measured were food and fluid intake, urine and fecal output and hemaetological parameters. The lethal dose ( LD50)of the extract was 2750mg/kg body weight, carbohydrates, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids andterpenes were the bioactive compounds detected. The elemental contents included sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc aluminium and silver. The hexane extract of A. annua decreased both food and fluid intake but increased urine and fecal output. Significant changes in some of the hemaetological parameters were also elicited by the extract. This study has shown the toxicity characteristics of the hexane extract of the A. annua leaves in short time treatment with the extract.

<i>Artemisia annua</i>: A New Version of a Traditional Tea under Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial for the Treatment of Malaria

Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, 2016

Introduction: The traditional antimalarial tea Artemisia annua, indicated for centuries in China to treat fevers, is again arousing interest for the treatment of malaria due to improvements attained in the plant composition by a few Institutions throughout the world, including the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil, increasing its principal component by more than 100 times as from standard varieties, giving 1% in artemisinin and an expressive biomass yield such as 2 tons of dried leaves/hectare. Clinical trials carried out with this material in African countries have proven its therapeutic potential for a new generation of Artemisia tea in the treatment of falciparum malaria. In addition to artemisinin, recent studies have identified and quantified other compounds present in the crude extract and characterized their contributions to the anti-malarial efficacy, including their action against chloroquineresistant strains. The majority of the clinical trials carried out with Artemisia tea in African countries have shown that the control of the parasitaemia is efficient in the initial treatment period, but few trials have followed the patients up to the 28 th day. This first clinical trial carried out in Brazil with the A. annua infusion, after toxicological trials that defined the safety of this form of medication. Methods: The therapeutic efficacy of the tea was measured in patients with falciparum malaria over 28 days, comparing it with the current first-line treatment namely artemether-lumefantrine (CoartemĀ®).