Variability in the Essential Oils from Aerial Parts of Artemisia vulgaris L. Grown in Uttarakhand (India)

The present study aims to determine the variability in the chemical composition of the essential oils from the aerial parts of Artemisia vulgaris L. grown in different locations of Uttarakhand Himalaya. The essential oils were obtained through hydro-distillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In the oils from two locations (Jhanjhar and Kaditalla), alpha-thujone was found as the major constituent, ranging from 14.40-21.66 % followed by artemisia ketone (6.77-8.64 %), trans-caryophyllene (6.22-6.94 %) and 1,8-cineole (4.75-5.13 %); however in Chakrata region, artemisia ketone (29.38 %) was determined as a principal constituent followed by p-cymene (7.60 %) and yomogi alcohol (5.48 %), while alpha-thujone found to be only 3.10 %. Essential oils from all the locations were dominated by oxygenated monoterpenoids (52.04-59.24 %), whereas oxygenated sesquiterpenoids found to be 23.08-24.05 % in Jhanjhar and Kaditalla locations and only 2.44 % in the oil from Chakrata.