Chemical composition and pesticide activity of essential oils from Artemisia annua L. harvested in the rainy and winter seasons

Artemisia annua L. [family Asteraceae (Compositae)] is a well-known medicinal herb with a broad spectrum of applications in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. The present study aimed to investigate the variation of essential oil (EO) composition from the plant aerial parts, harvested in rainy (AAREO) and winter (AAWEO) seasons. GC -MS analysis of AAREO and AAWEO led to the identification of 75 and 59 constituents, respectively. AAREO was dominated by camphor (14.1%), germacrene-D (9.0%), beta-caryophyllene (8.7%), and eucalyptol, (4.2%) whereas AAWEO was abundant in camphor (17.9%), eucalyptol (14.6%) and artemisia alcohol (3.5%). Both EOs showed antifeedant activity against Spodoptera litura and nematocidal activity versus Meloidogyne incognita. The in silico test proved that the major EOs compounds showed a good score of docking with acetylcholinesterase (PDB ID: 2ACE) compared to carbofuran.

Automated summary

This study investigated the variation of essential oil composition from Artemisia annua L. aerial parts harvested in rainy and winter seasons. The GC-MS analysis identified different major constituents between the two essential oils. Both oils showed antifeedant and nematocidal activities. In silico tests revealed that the major components had good docking scores with acetylcholinesterase compared to carbofuran.