Chemical composition of the essential oil of Artemisia herba-alba Asso grown in Algeria

The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Artemisia herba-alba Asso growing wild in M'sila-Algeria, was investigated using both capillary GC and GC/MS techniques. The oil yield was 1.02% based on dry weight. Sixty-eight components amounting to 94.7% of the oil were identified, 33 of them being reported for the first time in Algerian A. herba-alba oil and 21 of these components have not been previously reported in A. herba-alba oils. The oil contained camphor (19.4%), trans-pinocarveol (16.9%), chrysanthenone (15.8%) and beta-thujone (15%) as major components. Monoterpenoids are the main components (86.1%), and the irregular monoterpenes fraction represented a 3.1% yield.