About Mugwort
The mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris L) is a species that has played a significant role in the history of medicine. In the Middle Ages, it was originally referred to as the “mother of herbs.” It is a typical grass plant that varies greatly geographically in terms of morphology and phytochemistry. Health Benefits of Mugwort include emmenagogue, nervine, digestive, diuretic, diaphoretic, food flavoring, and insect repellent qualities.
It’s almost universally recognized that this species exists. Because of the essential oil, flavonoids, and sesquiterpenoids lactones that are present as well as the biological activities that go along with them, Artemisia vulgaris herbs, serve as a raw material.
According to European Pharmacopoeia, this species has a possible raw material for homeopathic remedies. Essential oils from aerial mugwort plant parts have concentrations between 0.1 and 1.4%. Mugwort essential oil, which mainly consists of -pinene, camphor, and 1,8-cineole, has a variety of uses, including insect repellent, food flavoring, and many more.
Origin-benefits of mugwort
Artemisia is a genus with over 500 species. These species are commonly present all over the globe but are most common in temperate climate zones such as Europe, East Asia, the Americas, North Africa, and Australia. This genus has several members in Asia, with about 150 species in China and 174 in the former Soviet Union.
Many species are unique to the floras of Japan and Iran. (about 50 and 35, respectively). The number of Artemisia sp. species found in Europe seems to be 57. In Poland, natural habitats support ten distinct species, including A. vulgaris and Artemisia absinthium. Some of them are only present in small areas of the nation and appear as endangered plant species.
Description
- This genus contains small bushes and half-shrubs as well as annual, biennial, and permanent herbs.
- These plants have a high concentration of acrid compounds and essential oils from a chemotaxonomic perspective. (particularly sesquiterpenoid lactones). Additionally, the benefits of mugwort include that they are an excellent source of phenolic acids, coumarins, and flavonoids.
- Mugwort is a herbaceous plant that can reach a height of 2.5 m and a width of 75 centimeters.
- It has a strong aroma, as well as a spicy flavor.
- The plant has a large primary root as well as numerous small, fibrous lateral roots.
- The plant’s stems are slightly wavy, straight, or branched, with a brown color at the bottom and purple at the top.
- Some of the stalks are hairy as well. The leaves measure 5-10 centimeters in length. The flowers are yellowish to brown-red.
Chemical constituents which show the benefits of Mugwort
Chemicals which is present and show the benefits of Mugwort are; sesquiterpenoid lactones, flavonoids, phenolic acids, sterols, polyacetylenes, carotenoids, vitamins, and cyanogenic glycosides. The herb’s essential oil is another important component. This species is distinguished by the presence of sesquiterpenoid lactones like psilostachyin, psilostachyin C, and vulgarin, as well as the confirmed existence of artemisinin and responsible for mugwort benefits.
The plant is also distinguished by the inclusion of coumarin compounds like esculin, umbelliferone, and scopoletin, as well as flavonoids like derivatives of kaempferol and quercetin. The following are the most common volatile compounds: 1,8-cineole, sabinene, camphor, camphene, caryophyllene oxide, β-thujone, and α-thujone are some of the compounds present in this plant.
What are the Health Benefits of Mugwort?
- Antioxidant property: Mugwort benefits include antioxidant action and may thus be useful in the treatment of oxidative stress-related diseases. Some recent studies have recorded the antioxidant activity of the entire plant, its aerial parts, leaf extracts, and essential oil.
- Antibacterial property: The antibacterial and antioxidant properties in the presence of polyphenols and flavonoids are being evaluated using methanol extract. A variety of bacteria and fungi, including C. albicans, Aspergillus niger, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus show inhibition by the oil extracted from the aerial parts. Aqueous leaf extract of mugwort has antibacterial effects on the C and D serotypes of Streptococcus mutans.
- Analgesic Action: Using a mouse model, the team from So Paulo (Brazil) examined the analgesic properties of a hydroalcoholic extract prepared from the aerial parts of mugwort.
- Bronchodilatory Effect: Crude extract of mugwort shows a bronchodilatory effect in the isolated tissue preparations of rabbit jejunum and guinea pig trachea. The authors hypothesized that the broncholytic action of the A. vulgaris extract was due to the presence of alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoids, saponins, sterols, tannins, and terpenes.
- Anti Inflammatory properties: Flavonoids have the potential to silence key enzymes involved in the generation of numerous inflammatory mediators, including cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase, and inducible nitric oxide synthase isomers.
- Anti-diabetic property: In diabetic nephropathy rats, ethanolic plant leaf extract significantly reduced diabetes assessment metrics such as blood glucose.
Other Health Benefits of Mugwort
- Anti-fertility property: The plant’s methanolic leaf extract inhibits implant development and estrogenic activity significantly in a dose-dependent manner. Because of the presence of flavonoids, the aerial portion of the plant exhibited estrogenic activity.
- Anticonvulsant action: The methanol extract of Mugwort leaves has anticonvulsant and relaxing properties.
- Anticancer activity: Turkish researchers examined the cytotoxic effects of a methanolic extract made from the aerial parts of mugwort on human cancer cell lines and normal cell lines. Additionally, The flavonoids and other phenolic compounds found in the plant, according to the researchers, were responsible for these activities.
- Treat symptoms of menopause: Mugwort was traditionally utilized for women’s health at all phases of life. Its common term, “crone-wort,” indicates that it was beneficial for both older and younger women. Mugwort in particular might be a natural treatment for postmenopausal symptoms.
- Digestive Health: Mugwort is choleretic, which means it raises the amount of bile secreted from the liver. Aiding in the transportation and release of toxins while being extremely beneficial to the digestive system. Additionally, it is a cholagogue, which differs slightly from a choleretic in that. In addition, it is also beneficial for bitter digestive aid for reducing gastric acidity, dyspepsia, and motion sickness.
