Investigating the quantitative variation of Artemisinin content in the populations of Artemisia annua L. indigenous of the north of Iran

Artemisia annua belongs to the Asteraceae family and is a medicinal annual herb that contains an anti-malaria compound called Artemisinin. In the present study, the variation of Artemisinin content was investigated in seven populations of A.annua collected from different regions in the north of Iran. The leaves of different populations were shade dried and then extracts were obtained from 1g of each leave sample. Artemisinin content in extracts was measured using HPLC-UV and the standard sample. The analysis of the amount of Artemisinin content obtained from different populations indicated that the highest and lowest amounts respectively belonged to the populations collected from Noshahr with 0/195% of dried leaf and Havigh with 0/053%. The results demonstrated a relatively low variation in the amount of Artemisinin content in populations of A.annua. The amount of Artemisinin content measured in this study is significant in comparison to the samples obtained from the other parts of the world.