Review article on chemical constituents and biological activity of Artemisia monosperma.

Abstract

Asteraceae, often known as Compositae, is one of the largest angiospermic plant families among dicotyledonous, based on the enormous number of species (1,620 genera and 23,600 species). The Asteraceae family includes several large and widely dispersed genus, Artemisia being one of the most common in the Northern Hemisphere. There are 500 species of the genus Artemisia worldwide. Several species of Artemisia have been reported to contain numerous phytochemicals such as polyphenols, phenolic acids, flavonoids, acetylenes and triterpene. Artemisia monosperma (Delile) is a perennial fragrant plant that grows widely in the deserts of Middle East, Africa and China. This plant is commonly used in folk medicine as a remedy of a wide range of illness. The choice of the plant was based on the good previous biological study of A. monosperma plant extract it was found to have anticancer, antimicrobial and anti-diabetic activities. This review highlights the phytochemical constituents of this important and valuable genus as well as its different reported biological activities. Definitively, the plant extract of A. monosperma good source of health strengthening constituents which can be used for curative and nutritional purposes, therefore there is need for further studies on the active compounds of this plant so as to optimize their medicinal and nutritional values.