Phytochemical analysis of a herbal tea from Artemisia annua L.
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 48 h. 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 mono-caffeoyl- and mono-feruloyl-quinic acids, di-caffeoyl- and di-feruloyl-quinic acids was identified as main components of the tea infusion, together with some flavonoids. Reconstitution of the same extracts in less polar or apolar solvents resulted in a different composition with no phenolics and a much lower concentration of artemisinin.
Dipartimento Farmaco-Chimico, Università Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4, I-70125 Bari, Italy.
Teresa
T
Carbonara
Rossana
R
Pascale
Maria Pia
MP
Argentieri
Paride
P
Papadia
Francesco Paolo
FP
Fanizzi
Luciano
L
Villanova
Pinarosa
P
Avato
D019306:Artemisia / Q000737:chemistry*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D057230:Limit of Detection; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D013662:Tea / Q000737:chemistry*
D013662:Tea