Evaluation of Essential Oils in Two Artemisia Species that are Grown Wildly in Eastern Desert of Egypt

The aerial parts of Artemisia judaica L. (A. judaica) and Artemisia monosperma (Delile) (A. monosperma) were collected from wild plant populations located in the eastern desert of Egypt. The essential oils (EOs) of both aerial parts were isolated by hydro-distillation (HD) and analyzed by GC/MS. The EO yields of A. judaica and A. monosperma were 6.0 and 4.0 ml/500 g herb, respectively. Piperitone (43.8 % +/- 3.6), artemisia ketone (38.3 % +/- 3.2) and artemisia alcohol (3.1 % +/- 0.6) were the main components of A. judaica EO, while the major components of A. monosperma EO were beta-pinene (56.4 % +/- 4.8), delta-cadinene (18.4 % +/- 2.1), alpha-pinene (6.8 % +/- 0.9), limonene (5.4 % +/- 1.1) and cis-beta-ocimene (3.1 % +/- 0.5). Various constituents of A. judaica EO belonged to monoterpene hydrocarbons (MH) and oxygenated monoterpenes (OM). The chemical groups of A. monosperma EO were MH, OM, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (SH), and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (OS). The major chemical classes of A. judaica and A. monosperma EOs were OM (90.3 % +/- 6.1) and MH (77.4 % +/- 4.9), respectively.