Artemisia herba-alba explained
Artemisia herba-alba, the white wormwood, is a perennial shrub in the genus Artemisia that grows commonly on the dry steppes of the Mediterranean regions in Northern Africa (Saharan Maghreb), Western Asia (Arabian Peninsula) and Southwestern Europe. It is used as an antiseptic and antispasmodic in herbal medicine.
Names
Its specific epithet herba-alba means "white herb" in Latin, as its stems and leaves are white and woolly.[1] Similarly, it is French: armoise herbe-blanche or French: armoise blanche in French.
In Arabic, it is (Arabic: الشيح).[2] And it is (Hebrew: לענה) in Old Testament Hebrew.[3] [4] "Wormwood" (in the Bible, Rev. 8:10–11).
Botanical description
Artemisia herba-alba is a chamaeophyte that grows to . Leaves are strongly aromatic and covered with fine glandular hairs that reflect sunlight giving a grayish aspect to the shrub. The leaves of sterile shoots are grey, petiolate, ovate to orbicular in outline; whereas, the leaves of flowering stems, more abundant in winter, are much smaller.
The flowering heads are sessile, oblong and tapering at base. The plant flowers from September to December.[5] The receptacle is naked with 2–5 yellowish hermaphrodite flowers per head.[6]
Phytochemistry
Essential oil of A. herba-alba, from the Sinai Desert, contains mainly 1,8-cineole and appreciable amounts of α- / β-thujone as well as other oxygenated monoterpenes including terpinen-4-ol, camphor and borneol.[7] Davanone, chrysanthenone and cis-chrysanthenol have been described as major constituents in some populations of A. herba-alba from Morocco[8] and Spain.[9] Less common non-head-to-tail monoterpene alcohols have been identified in some populations from Negev desert, such as santolina alcohol and yomogi alcohol.[10]
Several sesquiterpene lactones were found in the aerial parts of A. herba-alba. Mainly, eudesmanolides and germacranolides types were reported in most cases.[11] A variety of flavonoids were also described mainly with methylated (i.e. patuletin) and O-methylated (i.e. hispidulin, cirsilineol) aglycones.[12] [13] The presence of C-glycosides (i.e. isovitexin, schaftoside, isoschaftoside) is also noticeable.[14]
Uses
Artemisia herba-alba is good fodder for grazing animals, mainly sheep, and in the Algerian steppes cattle.[7] [15]
Herbal medicine
This species of sagebrush is widely used in herbal medicine for its antiseptic, vermifuge and antispasmodic properties.[7] Artemisia herba-alba was reported as a traditional remedy of enteritis, and various intestinal disturbances, among the Bedouins in the Negev desert.[16] Based on laboratory assays, essential oil showed antibacterial activity,[17] as well as, antispasmodic activity on rabbits[7] and cytotoxic effect on cancer cells.[18]
Artemisia herba-alba based teas were used in Iraqi folk medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.[19] An aqueous extract of aerial parts of the plant has shown a hypoglycemic effect in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits and mice.[20] [21] [22]
Culture
Artemisia herba-alba is thought to be the plant translated as "wormwood" in English-language versions of the Bible (apsinthos in the Greek text).Wormwood is mentioned seven times in the Jewish Bible, always with the implication of bitterness. Wormwood is mentioned once in the New Testament, as the name of a star, also with implications of bitterness.[23]
External links
Notes and References
- Zalat . Samy . Gilbert . Francis . A Walk in Sinai . 1999 . 1110-6867 . Egyptian Journal of Natural History . 1.
- Web site: Artemisia herba-alba Asso . F. Guiso . Gallisai . 2002 . 17 February 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100213054718/http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Gbase/new_species/arther.htm . 13 February 2010 . live.
- Web site: Brown . Driver . Briggs . Gesenius . Hebrew Lexicon entry for La'anah . 1998 . The Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon . Lockman Foundation . 17 February 2010.
- Plants in the Bible#Wormwood. Plants in the Bible: Wormwood.
- Feinbrun Dothan . N. . 1978 . Flora Palaestina: part 3. Ericaceae to Compositae . Jerusalem, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities . 2 . 351–3.
- Pottier-Alapetite . G. . 1979 . Flore de la Tunisie: part 2. Dicotyledones, Gamopetales . Tunis, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research . 2 . 1012–3 . French.
- Yashphe . J. . Feuerstein . I. . Barel . S. . Segal . R. . 1987 . The Antibacterial and Antispasmodic Activity of Artemisia herba-alba Asso. II. Examination of Essential Oils from Various Chemotypes . Pharmaceutical Biology . 25 . 89–96 . 10.3109/13880208709088133 . 2.
- Benjilali . B. . Sarris . J. . Richard . H. . 1982 . Nouveaux chémotypes d' Artemisia herba-alba . Sci. Aliment. . 2 . 515–527 . fr.
- Salido . S. . Valenzuela . L. R. . Altarejos . J. . 2004 . Composition and infraspecific variability of Artemisia herba-alba from southern Spain . Biochemical Systematics and Ecology . 32 . 265–77 . 10.1016/j.bse.2003.09.002 . 3 . 2004BioSE..32..265S . fr. etal . 10.1.1.483.5937.
- Segal . Ruth . Breuer . Aviva . Feuerstein . Ilan . 1980 . Irregular monoterpene alcohols from Artemisia herba-alba . Phytochemistry . 19 . 12 . 2761–2 . 10.1016/S0031-9422(00)83962-X. 1980PChem..19.2761S .
- Book: Proksch . Peter.. Wright. Colin W. . Artemisia . CRC Press . 2001 . 96–101 . Chapter 5: Artemisia herba-alba . 0203303067.
- Saleh . Nabiel A. M. . El-Negoumy . Sabry I. . Abd-Alla . Mohamed F. . Abou-Zaid . Mamdouh M. . Dellamonica . G. . Chopin . J. . 1985-01-01 . Flavonoid glycosides of Artemisia monosperma and A. herba-alba . Phytochemistry . 24 . 1 . 201–203 . 10.1016/S0031-9422(00)80845-6 . 1985PChem..24..201S . 0031-9422.
- Salah . Sam Medhat . Jäger . Anna Katharina . 2005 . Two flavonoids from Artemisia herba-alba Asso with in vitro GABAA-benzodiazepine receptor activity . Journal of Ethnopharmacology . 99 . 1 . 145–6 . 10.1016/j.jep.2005.01.031 . 15848034.
- Bourgou . Soumaya . Bettaieb Rebey . Iness . Mkadmini . Khawla . Isoda . Hiroko . Ksouri . Riadh . Ksouri . Wided Megdiche . 2017-09-01 . LC-ESI-TOF-MS and GC-MS profiling of Artemisia herba-alba and evaluation of its bioactive properties . Food Research International . 99 . Pt 1 . 702–712 . 10.1016/j.foodres.2017.06.009 . 28784534 . 0963-9969.
- Houmani . Mohamed . Houmani . Zahia . Skoula . Melpomeni . 2004 . Interest of Artemisia herba-alba Asso for the food of cattle in Algerian steppes . Acta Botanica Gallica . 151 . 2 . 165–172 . 1253-8078 . 10.1080/12538078.2004.10516031 . 83978459. free .
- Friedman . J. . Yaniv . Z. . Dafni . A. . Palewitch . D. . A preliminary classification of the healing potential of medicinal plants, based on a rational analysis of an ethnopharmacological field survey among Bedouins in the Negev desert, Israel . Journal of Ethnopharmacology . 16 . 2–3 . 275–87 . June 1986 . 3747566 . 10.1016/0378-8741(86)90094-2.
- Yashphe . J. . Segal . R. . Breuer . A. . Erdreich-Naftali . G. . Antibacterial activity of Artemisia herba-alba . Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences . 68 . 7 . 924–5 . July 1979 . 458619 . 10.1002/jps.2600680742.
- Tilaoui . M. . Ait Mouse . H. . Jaafari . A. . Zyad . A. . Comparative Phytochemical Analysis of Essential Oils from Different Biological Parts of Artemisia herba-alba and Their Cytotoxic Effect on Cancer Cells . PLOS ONE . 10 . 7 . e0131799 . July 2015 . 26196123 . 4510584 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0131799 . 2015PLoSO..1031799T. free.
- Al-Waili . N.S. . Treatment of diabetes mellitus by Artemisia herba-alba extract: preliminary study . Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology & Physiology . 13 . 7 . 569–574 . July 1986 . 3791709 . 10.1111/j.1440-1681.1986.tb00940.x . 30856215.
- Al-Khazraji . S.M. . Al-Shamaony . L.A. . Twaij . H.A.A. . Hypoglycaemic effect of Artemisia herba-alba. I: Effect of different parts and influence of the solvent on hypoglycaemia activity . Journal of Ethnopharmacology . 40 . 3 . 163–166 . November 1993 . 8145571 . 10.1016/0378-8741(93)90064-C.
- Al-Khazraji . S.M. . Al-Shamaony . L.A. . Twaij . H.A.A. . Hypoglycaemic effect of Artemisia herba-alba. II: Effect of a valuable extract on some blood parameters in diabetic animals . Journal of Ethnopharmacology . 43 . 3 . 167–171 . July 1994 . 7990489 . 10.1016/0378-8741(94)90038-8.
- M . Marrifa H I, Alib B H and Hassan K . Some pharmacological studies on Artemisia herba-alba (Asso.) in rabbits and mice . Journal of Ethnopharmacology . 49 . 1 . 51–55 . November 1995 . 8786657 . 10.1016/0378-8741(95)01302-4.
- Web site: Wormwood . Musselman . Lytton John . 12 April 2007 . Plant Site: Bible Plants . Old Dominion University . 2 June 2013.