phenolic content of artemisia annua l. from natural habitats in republic of moldova

The aim of our study was to assess the phenolic compounds content and profile of A. annua samples harvested from natural habitats in R. Moldova. The samples, consisting in leaves, were harvested in August 2014 (before flowering) from different growing sites in north, centre and south regions. Phenolic extracts were obtained by methanol extraction of the residual plant material resulted from artemisinin separation. The phenolic compounds were identified and quantified by TLC and HPLC-DAD analyses, respectively. In all samples, four phenolic acids (caffeic, p-coumaric and chlorogenic acids, cynarin) and two flavonoids (isoquercitrin and luteolin-7-glucoside) were identified and quantified, cynarin being the major compound. The variations in phenolic composition between samples harvested from the same growing site and also for the samples from different growing areas (south, centre, north), were mostly quantitative. Similar phenolic profiles were obtained for all samples, regardless of the growing site. Phenolic acids were the dominant components in the phenolic extracts.