Studies On The Methods For The Assay Of Artemisinin In Artemisia Annual L. And Its Semi-Synthetic Derivatives

OBJECTIVESArtemisinin is extracted from Herba artemisiae annuae. Herba artemisiae annuae, a Chinese traditional medicine, is made of Artemisia annua L.. The plant is mainly distributed in Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangxi provinces in China and some areas of other countries. ART and its semi-synthetic derivatives are considered as the front-line antimalariarial drugs by WHO. As the raw material for these antimalariarial drugs, ART is in great demand.Although Character Description, Identification and Tests are listed in the specification for Herba artemisiae annuae in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, ART,the active ingredient, isn't defined. Because the content of ART in the plant varies wildly from area to area, it is necessary to assay it accurately and introduce it to the specifcation.The assay methods reported for ART in Herba artemisiae annuae were TLC, UV and HPLC. However, these methods included complex derivation reactions. Therefore, they were time-consuming and with poor...