Horticulturae, Free Full-Text

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Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua L.) valorization is gaining importance due to the presence of the health-promoting bioactive compound, artemisinin. Considering the wide possible application of artemisinin drug formulations, new, greener technologies in their production are welcome. In this study, artemisinin was extracted from A. annua leaves using green extraction technologies (ultrasound-assisted extraction, supercritical CO2 extraction, deep eutectic solvent extraction and subcritical water extraction) in combination with green solvents. Artemisinin was present up to 3.21 µg/mgdw. Among the different green extraction techniques, HPLC data revealed supercritical CO2 (SCO2) extracts to exhibit the highest yield of artemisinin due to the solvent non-polar properties. Additionally, the volatile compounds profile of SCO2 extract was determined, with camphor (12.23%), arteannuin b (15.29%) and artemisia ketone (10.97%) as the most abundant compounds. Obtained results encourage the use of green extraction techniques for the separation of artemisinin and are expected to find potential in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food applications.