Composition and Intraspecific Chemical Variability of the Essential Oil from Artemisia herba-alba Growing Wild in a Tunisian Arid Zone

The intraspecific chemical variability of essential oils (50 samples) isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia herba-alba Asso growing wild in the arid zone of Southeastern Tunisia was investigated. Analysis by GC (RI) and GC/MS allowed the identification of 54 essential oil components. The main compounds were beta-thujone and alpha-thujone, followed by 1,8-cineole, camphor, chrysanthenone, transsabinyl acetate, trans-pinocarveol, and borneol. Chemometric analysis (k-means clustering and PCA) led to the partitioning into three groups. The composition of two thirds of the samples was dominated by alpha-thujone or beta-thujone. Therefore, it could be expected that wild plants of A. herba-alba randomly harvested in the area of Kirchaou and transplanted by local farmers for the cultivation in arid zones of Southern Tunisia produce an essential oil belonging to the alpha-thujone/beta-thujone chemotype and containing also 1,8-cineole, camphor, and trans-sabinyl acetate at appreciable amounts.