Chemical Composition and Biological Uses of Artemisia absinthium (Wormwood)

Artemisia absinthium Linn. (wormwood) is a species of Artemisia of family Asteraceae. It is an important perennial shrubby plant native to temperate regions of Asia, Europe, and Northern Africa, also found in the United States and Canada. It is grown as an ornamental plant and is used in some alcoholic drinks and also as an ingredient of spirit absinthe. Since the time of Greeks it has been used as traditional medicine and has been reported to be important natural medicine. It is used as herbal medicine in Unani and Ayurveda. It is the objective of this chapter to review the evidence-based preclinical pharmacological actions of Artemisia absinthium Linn. as a basis of its existing and potential new human clinical uses. Primary PubMed literature searches and secondary Medline searches were conducted to define Artemisia absinthium preclinical pharmacological actions using a retrospective narrative review of the published studies. Various studies have shown that Artemisia absinthium has tremendous anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial effect, and also it has been shown to have an effect on GI tract and urinary system. It is also known that most of the therapeutic properties of this plant are due to the presence of thujone which is a major bioactive component of the essential oil. This manuscript is an effort to provide a detailed survey of the literature on scientific researches of pharmacognostical characteristics, chemical composition, and pharmacological activities of the Artemisia absinthium.