The chemical composition and spasmolytic activity in isolated guinea-pig ileum of the essential oil of Artemisia alba Turra has been determined. The oil was hydrodistilled from the plant's flowering tops gathered in two very ecologically different Appennine environments: die gravely substrata of the mean-water bed of the Taro river (Taro-oil) and the calcareous-marly declivities of a modest relief of the central Apennines (Morro di Camerino, Morro-oil). GC and GC/MS analyses of the oil revealed a similar qualitative composition (terpenes and phenols for a total of 59 components identified) with a constant predominance of thujone and camphor in the Taro-oil and a percentage of artemisia ketone in the Morro-oil which varied notably in the two harvests gathered in successive years. All the samples demonstrated in vitro(against carbachol) a notable dose-dependent, essentially non-competitive spasmolytic action which was greatest in the sample with the highest content of artemisia ketone.
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Perfumi et al. (1999) studied this question.
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