Chemical Variability ofArtemisia herba-albaAsso Growing Wild in Semi-arid and Arid Land (Tunisia)

Twenty-six oil samples were isolated by hydrodistillation from aerial parts of Artemisia herba-alba Asso growing wild in Tunisia (semi-arid land) and their chemical composition was determined by GC(RI), GC/MS and 13C-NMR. Various compositions were observed, dominated either by a single component (α-thujone, camphor, chrysanthenone or trans-sabinyl acetate) or characterized by the occurrence, at appreciable contents, of two or more of these compounds. These results confrmed the tremendous chemical variability of A. herba-alba.