Five wild-growing Artemisia (Asteraceae) species from Serbia and Montenegro: Essential oil composition and its chemophenetic significance

In this work, the essential oils (EOs) obtained by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of five Artemisia species: A. alba Turra, A. pontica L., A. scoparia Waldst. & Kitam., A. vulgaris L., originating from Serbia and A. umbelliformis Lam. subsp. eriantha (Ten.) Valles-Xirau & Oliva Branas, ori-ginating from Montenegro were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). In total, 91 compounds were detected, and 78 were identified. Even though a high number of compounds were detected, each sample had only 18 to 35, attesting to a great diversity of compounds within these taxa. Depending on the species and the locality (geographical origin), the EO was dominated by either monoterpenes or sesquiterpenes, with artemisia ketone, 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol), fragranol, alpha-thujone, beta-thujone and myrcene being the dominant compounds. The obtained results were coupled with exten-sive literature data and used in multivariate chemometric approach to assess the chemophenetic significance of the EO.

Automated summary

The essential oils extracted from five Artemisia species originating from Serbia and Montenegro were analyzed. Each sample had a diverse range of compounds, dominated by either monoterpenes or sesquiterpenes, with specific compounds being predominant depending on the species and geographical origin.