title: Effects of vegetative and flowering stages on the biosynthesis of artemisinin in Artemisia species.
abstract: Artemisinin is an endoperoxide sesquiterpene lactone, and has been proven to be very effective in treating drug resistant cases of malaria, cancer, etc. The compound is obtained from Artemisia species. In the current study, the effects of vegetative and flowering stages on artemisinin production were studied, to determine the proper harvesting time of naturally growing Artemisia species with the highest levels of artemisinin. Eight Artemisia species along with two varieties were selected for this analytical work. The results showed that artemisinin content was high in the leaves of Artemisia indica, A. sieversiana, A. roxburghiana var. roxburghiana, A. roxburghiana var. gratae, and A. parviflora at the flowering stage. The highest artemisinin content was measured in the leaves of A. dracunculus var. dracunculus. Upon comparisons of artemisinin content among the individual plant species, the highest amount of artemisinin was again in A. dracunculus var. dracunculus followed by A. sieversiana when harvested at the flowering stage. In overall comparisons, the plants at the flowering stage showed high levels of artemisinin, which is deemed the optimum harvesting time of Artemisia species in Pakistan for maximum artemisinin content.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. abdulmannan_ka@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mannan
authors.forename: Ibrar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Waheed
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Arshad
authors.forename: Izhar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: Bushra
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mirza
mesh_terms: D000962:Antimalarials / Q000378:metabolism*; D019306:Artemisia / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development*; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D010154:Pakistan; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D037621:Artemisinins; D010936:Plant Extracts; C031327:artemisinin