Abstract

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) has been used for various medical ailments with an age old tradition. Apart from therapeutic usage it has also been used as an ingredient in the liquor absinthe. Wormwood is a native to temperate regions of Europe, Asia and northern Africa. Artemisia absinthium of Asteraceae family is a perennial shrubby plant and extensively used in Indian system of medicine such as Unani, Ayurveda, Sidha etc. since the time of Greek. In Unani system of medicine, infusion or decoction of the herb has been used since centuries as hepatoprotective, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, anthelmintic, diuretic, purgative of bile, insecticidal, appetizer etc. Therefore in this study, we have provided chromatographic fingerprinting of decoction of Artemisia to evaluate concentration of pharmacologically active constituents. Physiochemical characterization of drug material procured from Khari Baoli Old Delhi has been done. In addition, difference in extractive value of Artemisia absinthium through decoction based classical method versus through reflux distillation has also been reported in this paper.