Artemisinin and flavonoid content of several Artemisia annua breedings from Burundi (Africa)

Malaria mortality continues to increase across the world and represents the most important parasitic human disease. It causes over 1 million deaths, 300 million cases of illness, and an economic loss of US$ 12 billion annually [1]. Artemisia annua L. (Asteraceae) has been used to treat fevers in China for over 2 millennia [2] and recently, the clinical efficacy of A. annua teas or decoctions has been demonstrated, using high artemisinin-yielding plants [3–5]. Thus, it is important to verify the artemisinin levels in local cultivations of malaria areas and to assess how different geographical and climate conditions may affect the efficacy of the traditional treatments. In this study, the analysis of an A. annua cultivar (ANAMED 3 hydrid) cultivated in three different locations in Burundi (Kyenzi, a rainy and cool region in central Burundi at 2,300m altitude, J1 from Northern Burundi, near Ruanda at about 2,000m altitude, and from Bubanza, in northwestern Burundi, a hot and dry area at 950m altitude) were compared for their content in active principles. The n-hexane extract of dried aerial parts from each cultivation was evaluated for the quali-quantitative profiles of artemisinin and polymethoxyflavones by means of HPLC-DAD-MS [6]. Artemisinin content in plant materials ranged from 0.20 to 0.35%, flavonoids, namely artemetin, chrysoplenetin, casticin, cirsineol and eupatin ranged from 0.32 to 0.80%. The best yields of both classes of constituents were obtained in the Kyenzi cultivation.

Acknowledgements: The financial support of Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze is gratefully acknowledged. We thank Dr. Paolo Monti for sending us plant materials.

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