CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE ARTEMISIA GENUS

THE PROJECT "CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE GENUS ARTEMISIA" FOCUSED ON THE STUDY OF SEVERAL ARTEMISIA SPECIES FROM THE ITALIAN AND MEDITERRANEAN FLORA: A. ABSINTHIUM L. (ITALY, SPAIN, AND TUNISIA), A. ANNUA L. (ITALY), A. ARBORESCENS (VAILL.) L. (ITALY), A. CHAMAEMELIFOLIA VILL. (ITALY), A. DRACUNCULUS L. (ITALY), AND A. HERBA-ALBA ASSO (TUNISIA). STARTING FROM A CAREFUL REVIEW OF THE AVAILABLE LITERATURE AND RECOGNIZING THAT EACH SPECIES PRESENTS UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS AND DISTINCT GAPS IN THE LITERATURE, THE PROJECT ADOPTED A FLEXIBLE CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL APPROACH, RATHER THAN A UNIFORM ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK APPLIED TO ALL PLANTS. THIS SPECIES-SPECIFIC STRATEGY ALLOWED THE RESEARCH TO FILL SOME KNOWLEDGE GAPS FOR EACH ARTEMISIA SPECIES, INCLUDING PREVIOUSLY UNSTUDIED AND/OR LITTLE-STUDIED SPECIES, HIGHLIGHTING THEIR DISTINCTIVE CHEMICAL, MORPHOLOGICAL, AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND ENABLING A MORE ACCURATE ASSESSMENT OF THEIR POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL, FOOD, AGRICULTURAL, AND HEALTH FIELDS. COMBINING PHYTOCHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, PHYTOTHERAPEUTICAL, AND ECOLOGICAL ANALYSES, THE RESEARCH ADOPTED AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS AND POTENTIAL PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS. EXPERIMENTALLY, PLANT MATERIALS, WERE SUBJECTED TO VARIOUS EXTRACTION PROCESSES, INCLUDING SOLVENT EXTRACTION AND STEAM DISTILLATION, TO OBTAIN NON-VOLATILE AND VOLATILE FRACTIONS. THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THESE FRACTIONS WAS ANALYZED USING A COMBINATION OF CHROMATOGRAPHIC AND SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES, REVEALING SIGNIFICANT HETEROGENEITY WITHIN THE GENUS. IN PARALLEL, A WIDE RANGE OF TESTS WERE USED TO EVALUATE THE BIOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF THE EXTRACTS: ANTIOXIDANT, ANTIENZYMATIC, ANTIMICROBIAL, ANTIBIOFILM, PHYTOTOXIC, AND ECOTOXIC TESTS. CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED IN PARALLEL, MUTUALLY INFLUENCING EACH OTHER AND CORRELATING METABOLIC PROFILES AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY, ALLOWING FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE INFLUENCES AND CONDITIONING FACTORS. IT WAS ALSO EVALUATED HOW ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, PLANT DEVELOPMENT STAGE AND CULTIVATION PRACTICES INFLUENCE THE COMPOSITION OF SECONDARY METABOLITES AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES. THE PROJECT BENEFITED FROM EXTENSIVE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS WITH UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH CENTRES IN ITALY AND ABROAD, FOSTERING BOTH SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION AND PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING. THE RESULTS CONTRIBUTE TO ENRICHING THE CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMOTAXONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARTEMISIA GENUS, PROVIDING NEW INSIGHTS INTO SPECIES-SPECIFIC CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL TRAITS, AND SUGGESTING POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS IN PHARMACEUTICAL, NUTRITIONAL, AGRICULTURAL, AND HEALTH CONTEXTS.