Comparative Study of Chemical Composition and Cholinesterase Inhibition Potential of Essential Oils Isolated from Artemisia Plants from Croatia

The essential oil (EO) of Artemisia plants contains a large number of bioactive compounds that are widely used. The aim of this study was to analyse the chemical composition of EOs of six Artemisia plants collected in Croatia and to test their cholinesterase inhibitory potential. GC–MS analysis of the EO of A. absinthium showed that the dominant compounds are cis-sabinyl acetate and cis-epoxy-ocimene; in EO of A. abrotanum, it is borneol; in the EO of A. annua, they are artemisia ketone, camphor and 1,8-cineole; in the EO of A. arborescens, they are camphor and chamazulene; in the EO of A. verlotiorum, they are cis-thujone, 1,8-cineole and trans-thujone; and in the EO of A. vulgaris, they are trans-thujone and trans-epoxy-ocimene. The EO of the five studied Artemisia species from Croatia is rich in monoterpenoid compounds (1,8-cineole, artemisia ketone, cis-thujone, trans-thujone, cis-epoxy-ocimene, camphor, borneol and cis-sabinyl acetate). The EO of A. arborescens is also rich in chamazulene. The results also showed that the tested EOs have moderate cholinesterase inhibition potential, especially the EOs of A. annua, A. vulgaris and A. abrotanum. This is the first analysis of the chemical composition of the EOs of four Artemisia plants and the first analysis of cholinesterase potential for plants collected in Croatia.