Comparison of the volatile oils of <i>Artemisia tournefortiana</i> Reichenb. obtained by two different methods of extraction

Abstract

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation and solvent free microwave extraction from the aerial parts of <em>Artemisia tournefortiana </em>were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Forty-six components representing 82.3% of the hydrodistilled oil and thirty-nine components representing 81.0% of the solvent free microwave extraction oil of the plant were identified. The main components of the water-distilled oils were (<em>Z</em>)-β- farnesene (34.2%) and nonadecane (8.1%), whereas in the microwave extraction method 2-propenoic acid, 2-ethyl hexyl ester (30.0%) and spathulenol (19.5%) were the major constituents. The water-distilled oil of <em>Artemisia tournefortiana </em>was rich with regard to sesquiterpenes (64.5%), whereas the solvent free microwave extraction oil was rich with regard to sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (40.0%) and non-terpenoid compounds (39.3%) and the monoterpene hydrocarbon fraction was relatively small, representing 1.7% of the total oil. According to this study, the composition of the two oils showed significant differences in the contents of the main components.