title: Composition and intraspecific chemical variability of the essential oil from Artemisia herba-alba growing wild in a Tunisian arid zone.
abstract: The intraspecific chemical variability of essential oils (50 samples) isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia herba-alba Asso growing wild in the arid zone of Southeastern Tunisia was investigated. Analysis by GC (RI) and GC/MS allowed the identification of 54 essential oil components. The main compounds were β-thujone and α-thujone, followed by 1,8-cineole, camphor, chrysanthenone, trans-sabinyl acetate, trans-pinocarveol, and borneol. Chemometric analysis (k-means clustering and PCA) led to the partitioning into three groups. The composition of two thirds of the samples was dominated by α-thujone or β-thujone. Therefore, it could be expected that wild plants of A. herba-alba randomly harvested in the area of Kirchaou and transplanted by local farmers for the cultivation in arid zones of Southern Tunisia produce an essential oil belonging to the α-thujone/β-thujone chemotype and containing also 1,8-cineole, camphor, and trans-sabinyl acetate at appreciable amounts.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Ecologie Pastorale, Institut des Régions Arides, Km 22.5 Route du Djorf, Médenine, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Hédi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mighri
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akrout
authors.forename: Hajer
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El-jeni
authors.forename: Slah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zaidi
authors.forename: Félix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tomi
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Casanova
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neffati
mesh_terms: D019306:Artemisia / Q000737:chemistry*; D000081008:Bicyclic Monoterpenes; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D039821:Monoterpenes / Q000737:chemistry; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry*; D035261:Plant Components, Aerial / Q000737:chemistry; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D000081008:Bicyclic Monoterpenes; D039821:Monoterpenes; D009822:Oils, Volatile; C005790:beta-thujone