Artemisia annua Extract
Product Name: Artemisia annua Extract
Botanical Source: Artemisia annua L.
Plant Part Used: Aerial parts
Specification: 99% Artemisinin 99%
Appearance: Colorless Crystal powder
Artemisia annua, also known as sweet wormwood, sweet annie, sweet sagewort, annual mugwort or annual wormwood (Chinese pinyin:qīnghāo), is a common type of wormwood native to temperate Asia, but naturalized in many countries including scattered parts of North America.
| Product Name |
Artemisinin / Arteannuin |
| Botanical Source |
Artemisia annua L. |
| Plant Part Used |
Leaf, 100% Natural |
| CAS # |
63968-64-9 |
| Standard |
CP2015 |
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| Analysis Items |
Specifications |
| Identification |
Positive |
| Appearance |
White or silimar white Crystal powder |
Artemisinin, identification by IR Corresponds qualitatively to the
Spectrum |
Corresponds qualitatively to the comparison |
| Odor |
Characteristic pleasant |
| Taste |
Characteristic bitter |
| Assay |
Artemisinin 99%min. |
| Related substance |
No More than 2.0% in each case |
| Total related substance |
NMT 5.0% |
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| Melting Point |
150-153ºC |
| Clarity to the solution 1 %( m/v) |
Clear to slightly opalescent |
| Optical Rotation[]D20 |
+75°-- +78° |
| Moisture Content |
NMT 0.5% |
| Residue on Ignition |
NMT 0.1% |
Characteristics
Artemisia annua belongs to the plant family of Asteraceae and is an annual short-day plant. Its stem is erect brownish or violet brown. The plant itself is hairless and naturally grows from 30 to 100 cm tall. Although in cultivation it is possible, that plants reach a height of 200 cm. The leaves of A. annua have a length of 3-5 cm and are divided by deep cuts into two or three small leaflets. The intensive aromatic scent of the leaves is characteristic.The Artemisinin content in dried leaves is in between 0% and 1.5%. New hybrids of Artemisia annua developed in Switzerland can reach a leave artemisinin content of up to 2%. The small flowers have a diameter of 2-2.5 mm and are arranged in loose panicles. Their color is green-yellowish. The seeds are brown achenes with a diameter of only 0.6-0.8 milimeter. Their thousand-kernel weight (TKW) averages around 0.03 g (in comparison, wheat has a TKW of approximately 45 g).
Medicinal uses
Folk medicine
In traditional Chinese medicine, A. annua is traditionally used to treat fever.
Extractions
In 1971, scientists demonstrated the plant extracts had antimalarial activity in primate models, and in 1972, the active ingredient, artemisinin (formerly referred to as arteannuin), was isolated and its chemical structure described. Artemisinin may be extracted using a low boiling point solvent, such as diethylether, and is found in the glandular trichomes of the leaves, stems, and inflorescences, and it is concentrated in the upper portions of plant within new growth. The first isolation of artemisinin from the herb occurred from a military project known as Project 523, following the study of traditional medicine pharmacopoeias performed by Tu Youyou and other researchers within the project.
Antioxidant activity
Apart from the active compound Artemisinin, recent studies show that A. annua is one of the four medical plants with the highest Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) level.
Artemisia annua possesses the capacity to produce high phenolic compounds, which result in high antioxidant activity. Five major groups (coumarins, flavones, flavonols, phenolic acids and miscellaneous) containing over 50 different phenolic compounds were identified analyzing A. annua.
Flavonoids are generally known for their redox properties involved in the delay or inhibition of the initiation or propagation in oxidizing chain reactions.
Even though the beneficial effect of these phenolic compounds in association of a great number of diseases is often discussed, different studies show beneficial effects of flavonoids compound produced by A. annua. It has been stated that there is a negative correlation between the presence of the mentioned components and cardiovascular diseases, cancer and parasitic disease such as malaria.
Artemisinin and Flavonoids
In the last 20 years researchers focused on the activity of artemisinin against malaria. Therefore, less studies were done about the relationship between flavonoids and cancer. Despite that, recent studies show that the flavonoids present in the A. annua leaf are linked to suppression of CYP450 enzymes responsible for altering the absorption and metabolism of artemisinin in the body. Further researches in the synergistic effect of artemisinin and flavonoids and their biological interaction between malaria and cancer are needed.
Anti-cancer properties
Several studies show that flavonoids assimilation beverages treatments such as tea might prevent, delay or help to cure cancer. Recent investigations linked the influence of flavonoids with different enzymes involved in drug metabolism and in chemical Carcinogenesis process. This induces to a therapeutic potential.
Many studies show anti-cancer results analyzing different flavonoids, such as flavones and flavonols. In general it has been shown that specific flavonoid compounds can inhibit specific cancer cell growth as well as cell proliferation. Furthermore, these flavonoids induce cell Apoptosis.
It is proven, that artemisinin has anti-cancer activity as well, because it contains an endoperoxide group. Artemisinin has a high anti-cancer activity due to its interaction with iron complexes in the blood. This shows that artemisinin derivatives induce apoptosis of cancer cells as well.
Synthetic derivatives of artemisinin are being investigated for their potential use as anticancer drugs.
Asthma
Animal experiments showed that artesunate, a synthetic derivative of artemisinin, has anti-allergic properties, by effecting mast cell degranulation. This makes artesunate a candidate for treatment of allergic asthma. A Metabolomics animal study further strengthens this hope.
Mechanism
The proposed mechanism of action of artemisinin involves cleavage of endoperoxide bridges by iron, producing free radicals (hypervalent iron-oxo species, epoxides, aldehydes, and dicarbonyl compounds) which damage biological macromolecules causing oxidative stress in the cells of the parasite. Malaria is caused by apicomplexans, primarily Plasmodium falciparum, which largely reside in red blood cells and itself contains iron-rich heme-groups (in the form of hemozoin).
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