2010

Chhanda Debnath*, Andrea Dobernig†, Pijus Saha, and Astrid Ortner
Electrochemical Determination of Artemisinin in Artemisia annua L Herbal Tea Preparation and Optimization of Tea Making Approach
Journal of the Korean Chemical Society 2011, Vol. 55, No. 1

Electrochemical Determination of Artemisinin in Artemisia annua L Herbal Tea Preparation and Optimization of Tea Making Approach

Abstract : Sometimes inhabitants in remote areas have inadequate or no access to modern medicines or medical services. They can get benefit in term of the treatment against malaria by cultivating selected breeding of A. annua and making teas or decoctions from the plant materials following the proper way of tea preparation. In order to have the maximum extraction efficiency for artemisinin, different ways of tea preparations of A. annua were investigated by applying the developed DPP method and described in this article. Tea was prepared by three different ways (cooking, without cooking with/without shaking and microwave oven) with different times. From the results, it has been found that higher concentration of artemisinin (84.7%) can be attained by following the approach for tea preparation without cooking with shaking for 15 minutes (R.S.D. 2.34%). The concentration of artemisinin decreases with cooking more than 1.5 min in microwave oven. The utmost extraction (88.9% of artemisinin) is possible to extract by shaking with boiled 5% ethanol in distilled water (R.S.D. 2.28%).
Keywords : Artemisinin, Artemisia annua L, Tea, Differential pulse polarography (DPP)

2014

Pamela J. Weathers, Nikole Jordan, Praphapan Lasin, and Melissa J. Towler
Simulated Digestion of Dried Leaves of Artemisia annua Consumed as a Treatment (pACT) for Malaria
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2014 February 3 ; 151(2) : 858–863.

Simulated Digestion of Dried Leaves of Artemisia annua Consumed as a Treatment (pACT) for Malaria

Abstract :
Ethnopharmacological Relevance : Artemisinin (AN) is produced by Artemisia annua, a medicinal herb long used as a tea infusion in traditional Chinese medicine to treat fever ; it is also the key ingredient in current artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) effective in treating malaria. Recently we showed that dried leaves from the whole plant A. annua that produces artemisinin and contains artemisinin-synergistic flavonoids seems to be more effective and less costly than ACT oral malaria therapy ; however little is known about how digestion affects release of artemisinin and flavonoids from dried leaves.
Material and Methods : In the current study we used a simulated digestion system to determine how artemisinin and flavonoids are released prior to absorption into the bloodstream. Various delivery methods and staple foods were combined with dried leaves for digestion in order to investigate their impact on the bioavailability of artemisinin and flavonoids. Digestate was recovered at the end of the oral, gastric, and intestinal stages, separated into solid and liquid
fractions, and extracted for measurement of artemisinin and total flavonoids.
Results : Compared to unencapsulated digested dried leaves, addition of sucrose, various cooking oils, and rice did not reduce the amount of artemisinin released in the intestinal liquid fraction, but the amount of released flavonoids nearly doubled. When dried leaves were encapsulated into either hydroxymethylcellulose or gelatin capsules, there was >50% decrease in released artemisinin but no change in released flavonoids. In the presence of millet or corn meal, the amount of released artemisinin declined, but there was no change in released flavonoids. Use of a mutant A. annua lacking artemisinin showed that the plant matrix is critical in determining how artemisinin is affected during the digestion process.
Conclusions—This study provides evidence showing how both artemisinin and flavonoids are affected by digestion and dietary components for an orally consumed plant delivered therapeutic and that artemisinin delivered via dried leaves would likely be more bioavailable if provided as a tablet instead of in a capsule.
Keywords : antiprotozoal ; Artemisia annua ; artemisinin ; digestion ; flavonoids ; gastrointestinal system ; malaria

2014

Pamela J. Weathers, Melissa J. Towler
Changes in key constituents of clonally propagated Artemisia annua L. during preparation of compressed leaf tablets for possible therapeutic use
Industrial Crops and Products. 62:173–178 · December 2014

Changes in key constituents of clonally propagated {Artemisia annua} L. during preparation of compressed leaf tablets for possible therapeutic use

Abstract : Artemisia annua L., long used as a tea infusion in traditional Chinese medicine, produces artemisinin. Although artemisinin is currently used as artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) against malaria, oral consumption of dried leaves from the plant showed efficacy and will be less costly than ACT. Many compounds in the plant have some antimalarial activity. Unknown, however, is how these plant components change as leaves are processed into tablets for oral consumption. Here we compared extracts from fresh and dried leaf biomass with compressed leaf tablets of A. annua. Using GC-MS, nineteen endogenous compounds, including artemisinin and several of its pathway metabolites, nine flavonoids, three monoterpenes, a coumarin, and two phenolic acids, were identified and quantified from solvent extracts to determine how levels of these compounds changed during processing. Results showed that compared to dried leaves, artemisinin, arteannuin B, artemisinic acid, chlorogenic acid, scopoletin, chrysoplenetin, and quercetin increased or remained stable with powdering and compression into tablets. Dihydroartemisinic acid, monoterpenes, and chrysoplenol-D decreased with tablet formation. Five target compounds were not detectable in any of the extracts of this cultivar. In contrast to the individually measured aglycone flavonoids, using the AlCl3 method, total flavonoids increased nearly fivefold during the tablet formation. To our knowledge this is the first study documenting changes that occurred in processing dried leaves of A. annua into tablets. These results will improve our understanding of the potential use of not only this medicinal herb, but also others to afford better quality control of intact plant material for therapeutic use.
Key Words : Artemisinin ; flavonoids ; malaria ; pACT ; parasites ; terpenes

2015

Pierre Lutgen, Mutaz Akkawi, Lucile Cornet-Vernet
How to explain the high solubility of artemisinin in Artemisia annua infusions ?
malaworld.org, October 20, 2015

Article online

No abstract

2019

Pierre Lutgen
Why Artemisia stems are more important than leaves for antimalarial infusions
Malariaworld.org le 28 novembre 2019

Article online

No abstract