ISHS Acta Horticulturae 330: WOCMAP I - Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Conference: part 4 of 4
SELECTION AND BREEDING FOR HIGH ARTEMISININ (QINGHAOSU) YIELDING STRAINS OF ARTEMISIA ANNUA |
| Authors: | N. Delabays, G. Collet, A. Benakis |
| Abstract:
Artemisinin (Qinghaosu), a sesquiterpene lactone endoperoxid isolated from the herb Artemisia annua, is a highly potent antimalarial compound. In view of finding high artemisinin yielding strains, A. annua of several origins were placed in cultivation in Switzerland in 1989 and 1990 and their content in artemisinin determined by HPLC using a reductive electrochemical detector. The average artemisinin concentration in plants of European origin range from 0.03 to 0.22 % (dry leaves weight basis) artemisinin, but a clone from China could contain up to 1.1 % artemisinin. As A. annua is a strongly outcrossing species, hybridisations have been made between the Chinese clone, propagated through in vitro techniques, and pollen issued from plants from Italian, Yougoslavian and Spanish origins. These hybrids, cultivated in Switzerland in 1990 and 1991, produced in average 0.64, 0.73 % and 0.95 % artemisinin respectively, for a yield of dry leaves of about 2000 kg/ha. | |
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