The Development of<i>Artemisia afra</i>(Jacq.) as a New Essential Oil Crop

Abstract

ABSTRACT It has been shown that statistically significant higher oil yields could be obtained from Artemisia afra when the plants were harvested during anthesis and early seed set. The chemical composition of four generations of the same clone was found to be very constant. On examination of the oil composition of wild populations of A. afra, the existence of chemotypes was revealed. Oils rich in 1, 8-cineole (50.14%), α-thujone (74.91–75.28%), β-thujone (21.49–22.44%), and camphor (27.92%) were found.