| Essential oils obtained from aerial parts of Artemisia persica and Artemisia turcomanica were analyzed by
GC/MS. While 28 components representing 91.01 % of A. persica were identified, the identity of 50
components, constituting 81.93 % of the total oil, was confirmed in A. turcomanica. β- thujone was the main
compound (75.23%) in A. persica while the major identified phytochemicals in A. turcomanica were 1,8-
cineol (19.23%), camphor (15.55%) and filifolone (15.53%). Both of the essential oils were predominantly
made up of monoterpenes. Time- and dose-dependent cytotoxic effects of A. persica and A. turcomanica on
MCF-7 cell line evaluated by MTT assay at 24, 48 and 72 h, showed that the highest cytotoxic effect of A.
persica and A. turcomanica were appeared at 72 h incubation. At that incubation period, CI50 of A. persica
was found to be 0.15 µg/ml, while that of A. turcomanica was 0.1 µg/ml. Thus, cytotoxicity of A.
turcomanica was slightly higher than A. persica which could be attributed to the higher content of
sesquiterpene present in A. turcomanica. As a conclusion, these volatile oils could have chemotherapeutic
potentials. |