Essential oil composition of five Artemisia (Compositae) species in regards to chemophenetics

In this work we analysed the essential oils (EO) obtained by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of five Artemisia species (A. arborescens L., A. campestris L., A. lobelii All., A. annua L. and A. absinthium L.) originated from Serbia, Montenegro, and Libya, by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. In total, 126 compounds were detected, and 120 were identified. Even though a high number of compounds were detected, each individual sample had only 25 to 50, attesting to a great diversity of compounds between taxa. Depending on the species and the locality (geographical origin), EO was dominated by either monoterpenes or sesquiterpenes, with beta-pinene, chamazulene, germacrene D, camphor, pinocarvone and thuja-2,4(10)-diene being the dominant compounds. The chemophenetic value of the EO compositions was discussed in relation to the results of the multivariate statistical test, including the detailed survey of the available literature data.