Comparison of Essential Oil Components and Yield Parameters of Artemisia dracunculus and Artemisia dracunculoides

Abstract

Medicinal and aromatic plants have attracted attention recently for their essential oil content. This study aims to investigate and compare, for the first time, essential oil of Artemisia dracunculus L. and Artemisia dracunculoides L., which are closely related spe-cies. Yield values of this Artemisia spp. were determined, and the highest drug-herb yield (119.01 kg/ha) was found for Artemisia dracunculus L. The essential oil components of these species grown under organic production conditions in Bayburt, Turkey, were deter-mined by the microwave hydrodistillation method for the first time and gas chromatog-raphy-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The essential oil ratio for A. dracunculus was 1.40 %, whereas it was 1.21 % for A. dracunculoides; 42 components were found in A. dracunculus essential oil, while 38 were found in A. dracunculoides essential oil. Estragole was the most abundant essential oil component in A. dracunculus L. (69.34%) and A. dracunculoides L. (67.51%). The GC-MS results, showed that A. dracunculus L. is more suitable for use in perfumery and food industries than A. dracunculoides.