Chemical variability of <i>Artemisia vulgaris</i> L. essential oils originated from the Mediterranean area of France and Croatia

Abstract

Abstract The essential oils of Artemisia vulgaris L. originating from France and Croatia were subjected to detailed GC–MS analysis in order to determine possible similarities and differences between them and their chemical compositions, depending on the stage of development. Plant materials were collected in Provence (France) and Dalmatia (Croatia) at four different stages of development: vegetative (June), buds (July), flowering (August) and seeding (September). Comparison of the chemical composition and content, depending on phenological stages in both localities, shows qualitative similarity, but also the noticeable difference in the amounts of most components. First, the chemical composition of main compounds is very different; Croatian oils are rich in hydrocarbons, which are absent or present in low amounts in French oils. Also, with regard to the yield of essential oils, the yields from Croatian oils were higher (0.09–0.61%) than these from French oil (0.04–0.15%) at each development stage, respectively. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.