 Gen info
- Artemisia is a large, diverse genus of plants comprising about 400 species. It is the largest and widely distributed genus of the Asteraceae family. Common names include mugwort, wormwood, and sagebrush.
- Artemisia japonica, commonly known as Japanese wormwood or the Oriental wormwood, is a species of wormwood in the family Asteraceae.
(2)
- Etymology: Genus name Artemisia derives from the Greek idol Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, of forests, and of childbirth, or the namesake of the Greek queens Artemisia I and II, or Artemisia II of Caria, a botanist and medical researcher (also Queen and naval commander) who died in 350 BC. (41)
Botany
• Artemisia japonica is a perennial herb growing up to 50-130 centimeters. Rootstock is thick, woody, and has a strong smell. The leaves are clustered at the rounded apex. Leaf blade is spatulate and oblong-obovate to broadly spatulate or flabellate. Achenes are brown and obovoid. The many nodding capitulas are ovoid or subglobose. Florets are yellow, 12-15. Florets are bisexual, meaning that the species has male and female flowers. (2)
 • Herbs, perennial, 50-130 cm tall; rootstock 1.5-2.5 cm thick, woody, upper parts puberulent or glabrescent, strongly aromatic. Sterile stems 5-30 cm, leaves clustered at apex; leaf blade spatulate, 3.5-8 × 1-3 cm, pinnately lobed, toothed, apex rounded. Basal and lower stem leaves ± sessile; leaf blade oblong-obovate to broadly spatulate or flabellate, (3-)4-6(-8) × (1-)2-2.5(-3) cm, puberulent or glabrescent, obliquely pinnatipartite or -cleft from apex to center, few serrate apically. Middle stem leaves: leaf blade spatulate, cuneate, or narrowly spatulate, 2.5-3.5(-4.5) × 0.5-1(-2) cm, obliquely partite or cleft and few serrate at apex or lobes linear. Uppermost leaves 3-cleft or entire; leaflike bracts elliptic, lanceolate, or linear-lanceolate. Synflorescence a ± narrow panicle, 15-20 × 3-15(-20) cm panicle; branches almost horizontal or obliquely patent, 3-20 cm. Capitula many, nodding, shortly to long pedunculate. Involucre ovoid or subglobose, 1.5-2.5 mm in diam.; phyllaries glabrous, outermost ovate, very narrowly white scarious on margin, apex acute. Florets 12-15(-20), yellow. Marginal female florets 3-8(-11); corolla narrow, 2-toothed. Disk florets 5-10, male. Achenes dark brown, 0.8-1 mm, obovoid. (Flora of China)
Distribution
- Native to the Philippines.
- Also native to Afghanistan, Assam, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Hainan, India, Japan, Korea, Kuril Is., Laos, Manchuria, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, Pakistan, Primorye, Sakhalin, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, West Himalaya. (1)
Constituents
- Study of ethanol extract of leaves showed abundant phenolic acids, flavonoids, and coumarins, identified as chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, 7-methoxycoumarin and quercetin, apigenin, and luteolin glycoside derivatives. (see study below) (5)
- UPLC-QTOF-MS2 analysis of water extract of leaves identified 48 compounds with phenolic acids, particularly chlorogenic acids compounds, being predominant components. (see study below) (10)
- Phytoconstituent studies have yielded ß-amyrin, triacontaoic acid ß-sitosterol, stigmasterol,
7,8-dimthoxycoumarin, 6,7-dimethoxycoumarin, capillarisin, 8,4'-dihydroxy-3.7.2'-trimethoxyflavone, 3,5-dihydroxy-6,7,3',4'-tetramethoxyflavone, cinnamic acid, p-methoxybenzoic acid, and ferulic acid. (11)
Properties
- Studies have suggested antimalarial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antipyretic, anticoagulant, anti-dermatophytic, anti-infammatory properties.
 Parts used
Leaves, essential oil, stems, fruit.
Uses
Edibility
- Young leaves are edible; cooked.
- In China, used as vegetable and tea.
Folkloric
- Adult leaves are eaten as digestive.
- Plant juice used for treatment of vaginitis and skin diseases.
- According to the Xian Dai Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of modern materia medica), A. japonica can be used for treatment of colds, fever, strain, cough, hot flushes, heatstroke, malaria, hypertension, aphthous ulcers, scabies and eczema. (5)
- In Pakistan, extract of stem and leaf used for treatment of malaria. Leaf paste applied to skin infections. (6)
- In India, leaves, stems and fruits used for wound healing, and for their digestive and depurative properties. (11)
Others
- Incense: Powder from dried plants used as incense.
- Fodder: Plant grazed by sheep and goats in Ladakh and Lahoul, India. (2)
Studies
• Artemisinin: Artemisinin is the current drug of choice for the treatment of malaria and a number of other diseases. Artemisia japonica was one of ten Artemisia species with artemisinin levels in the range of 0.05 to 0.15%. It's flowers yielded more artemisinin than the leaves. (4)
• Antimalarial: Study evaluated ethanol and light petroleum extracts of Artemisia japonica, A. maritima, and A. nilegarica for antimalarial activity in mice using the Rane test. All compounds prolonged survival time compared to control using doses in range of 640-320 mg/kg subcutaneously. Chloroquine sensitive (FDL-Rl) strain of Plasmodium falciparum was used in invitro studies. All three compounds inhibited schizont maturation in a concentration dependent manner in the range of 2.5 trg to 40 µg per 10 ul blood. (3)
• Hepatoprotective / Antioxidant / Leaves: Study evaluated the antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties of 60% ethanol extract of A. japonica leaves. Total phenolic content using Folin Ciocalteau Method was calculated to be 123.142 mg GAE/g. The EE showed remarkable antioxidant activity in vitro; pretreatment at 150 µg/ml almost completely eliminated H2O2-induced ALM12 cell death. At dosage of 400 mg/kg, the EE exhibited strong hepatoprotective effect against α-naphthylisothicyanate (ANIT)-induced liver injury through upregulation of genes for antioxidant enzymes, while decreasing the level of MDA. The activities may be attributed to abundant phenolic acids, flavonoids, and coumarins, identified as chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, 7-methoxycoumarin and quercetin, apigenin, and luteolin glycoside derivatives. (5)
• Antipyretic: Extracts of A. japonica have been observed to reduce rectal temperature of febrile rats induced by LPS. Study evaluated the regulatory effect of extracts, with particular focus on the lipidomic profilinng of the febrile rate hypothalamus and potential mechanism. Sphingolipid, glycerolphospholipid, arachidonic acid, and ether lipid metabolism pathways were significantly enriched. TNF-α, IL-6 and PGE2 cytokines in the hypothalamus were significantly downregulation. Enzymatic reaction enrichment analysis suggested PEMT and COX-2 may be potential targets. (7)
• Anticoagulant Effect: Study evaluated damong maria for invitro effect on coagulation in human blood. Three dose concentrations of damong maria were compared against standard normal saline solution and heparin dose. Coagulation effects were evaluation using prothrombin time (PT) and actual partial thromboplastin time (PTT). Results showed a 100% damong maria decoction produced significant coagulation effect on PTT (p 0.002) and PT (p 0.018) compared to baseline; and produced a significant effect on PTT (p 0.010) and PT (p 0,024) compared to normal saline solution. (8)
• Anti-Dermatophytic / Leaf Essential Oil: Dermatophytes are a group of filamentous fungi that can cause superficial mycoses in humans and mammals due to invasion of keratinized tissues including skin, hair, and nails. Study evaluated the invitro anti-dermatophytic activity of A. japonica leaf essential oil. The EO showed great potential against selected dermatophytes viz., Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum canin, with MICs of 1.534 mg/ml and 0.578 mg/mL, respectively. Results suggest potential of the leaf essential oil for treatment of dermatophytosis. (9)
• Anti-Inflammatory / Antioxidant / Leaves: Study evaluated the chemical composition, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects of water extracts of A. japonica leaves. An ethyl acetate fractions (EAF) contained most of the total phenolic content (385.42 mg GAE/g) and exhibited superior antioxidant capacity with IC50s of 10.987 µg/mL, 43.63 µg/mL, and 26.88 µg/mL for DPPH, ABTS, and reducing power, respectively. The EAF exhibited potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells by upregulating the Nrf2/HO-1 signal pathway. Results suggest remarkable abilities to mitigate inflammation and oxidative stress, with potential for use as medicinal agents and food additives. (10)
Availability
Wildcrafted.
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