Composition of the essential oil from Artemisia herba-alba grown in Jordan

The composition of the essential oil hydrodistilled from the aerial parts of Artemisia herba-alba Asso. growing in Jordan was determined by GC and GC/MS. The oil yield was 1.3% (v/w) from dried tops (leaves, stems and flowers). Forty components corresponding to 95.3% of the oil were identified, of which oxygenated monoterpenes were the main oil fraction (39.3% of the oil), with alpha- and beta-thujones as the principal components (24.7%). The other major identified components were: santolina alcohol (13.0%), artemisia ketone (12.4%), trans-sabinyl acetate (5.4%), germacrene D (4.6%), alpha-eudesmol (4.2%) and caryophyllene acetate (5.7%). The high oil yield mid the substantial levels of potentially active components, in particular thujones and santolina alcohol, in the oil of this Jordanian species make the plant and the oil thereof promising candidates as natural herbal constituents of antimicrobial drug combinations.