Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Artemisia argyi Essential Oil and Hydrolate

Artemisia argyi, Chinese mugwort, is a plant widely used in China for various purposes from traditional medicine to food. The plant is less known in Europe. From plants grown in Austria, essential oils and their respective hydrolates were obtained, and their compositions were studied. Oxidized monoterpenes 1,8-cineole (32–42%), camphor (12–14%), and borneol (10–12%) were the main components present in both the essential oils and hydrolates. The essential oils also contained 6.6–10.5% monoterpene hydrocarbons such as β-caroyphyllene, camphene, and p-cymene. The hydrolate volatile fractions were devoid of hydrocarbons because of the low solubility of these compounds in water. Neointermedeol (selin-11-en-4-α-ol), a rather rare compound, and caryophyllene oxide were the major oxidized sesquiterpenes in the essential oils and were also present in low levels in the hydrolate volatiles. Furthermore, small amounts of eugenol were in the hydrolate volatiles. The essential oils and hydrolates showed some antioxidant activities in the DPPH and FRAP assays. Essential oils diluted 1:100 corresponded to gallic acid equivalents of 212–274 µg/mL in the FRAP assay and 26.1–30.7 µg/mL in the DPPH assay, while the ranges of activity for the hydrolates corresponded to gallic acid equivalents of 109–597 and 10.5–31.7 µg/mL for FRAP and DPPH assays, respectively.