WORMWOOD, ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM, ASTERACEAE is a plant native to Europe, temperate Asia and North Africa but which has become acclimatized in North America and other countries with a similar climate.
It is part of the sagebrush group.
It has been used as a medicinal plant since ancient times.
It is perennial (but herbaceous) and has an erect and branched stem that can reach between 1 m and 1.5 m, its leaves are abundant and particular: alternate, bipinnate, green on the top and whitish on the underside with a powdery appearance, they are aromatic and bitter.
The flowers are small, tubular, grouped in pale yellow pendulous flower heads.
The seeds are small and disperse easily.
Wormwood is a full sun plant, both wild and cultivated, which tolerates drought well thanks to its deep root.
It is best known as the basis of an alcoholic drink, Absinthe spirit, which caused numerous poisonings through gross adulteration and which was therefore prohibited for consumption for a long time.
But things have evolved and we can once again consume (in moderation) aperitif drinks based on absinthe.
It is also a medicinal plant due to its essential oil and the bitter compounds it contains.
ABSINTHE, WORMWOOD, BITTER MEDICINAL PLANT
Wormwood leaves contain a variable percentage of essential oil (between 0.5 and 2%), depending on the climate, growing conditions and time of year.
Wormwood essential oil is not bitter but pleasantly aromatic.
It contains 1-8 cineole (eucalyptol), camphor, linalool and thujone (the two alpha and beta isomers).
Thujone is NEUROTOXIC, it can cause epileptic seizures and irreversible neurological disorders when large quantities are taken regularly.
The great bitterness of wormwood leaves is due to the presence of sesquiterpene lactones soluble in water and alcohol (therefore in an infusion, herbal tea or alcoholic maceration) examples: absinthine, guaianolide (also in dandelion root), artemisin (also present in Artemisia annua, Chinese mugwort, antimalarial plant).
ABSINTHE SPIRIT: the green fairy
Absinthe liqueur or spirit is the product of the distillation of an alcoholic maceration of absinthe leaves followed by coloring and secondary aromatization by other plants, for example: green anise, hyssop, fennel, lemon balm, mint .
The green coloring of the liquor is due to the diffusion of chlorophyll from these fresh or dry plants.
There is not just one type of absinthe liqueur, it is a traditional drink whose recipes are numerous in Switzerland and France but also in many other European countries.
Here is an EXAMPLE OF A traditional ABSINTHE LIQUEUR (simplified) from the Jura in France:
Fractionated dry absinthe leaves 2.5 Kg, Green anise 5 Kg, Florence fennel 5 Kg, Alcohol at 85°, 95 liters.
- 1 maceration of this preparation for at least 12 hours,
- 2 distillations of this maceration which will have been previously diluted with 45 liters of lukewarm water,
- 3 coloring: finely chopped aromatic plants are added to the distillate (colorless): Leaves of small wormwood (or Roman wormwood, Artemisia pontica) dry and split 1 kg, Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) dry and flowered tops (which also contain thujone) 1 kg, Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) dry and divided 0.5 kg.
- 4 we leave everything to macerate at 40-50° C then when the color has diffused well, we leave it to cool, filter and adjust the alcohol level to around 70°.
The liqueur can be kept in a glass bottle or in a barrel for a few months during which it improves.
This absinthe spirit therefore has a very high alcohol content, its thujone content must not exceed 35 mg per liter.
Absinthe liqueur is historically known for its toxicity which led to its manufacture and sale being banned in many countries including France (in 1914).
It is now believed that the formidable toxicity of this liquor was not due to its thujone content but to its manufacture and adulteration: use of « distillate heads » with a high percentage of neurotoxic methyl alcohol (wood alcohol), artificial coloring. with copper salts (toxic), adulteration with neurotoxic essential oils.
The majority of countries have lifted the ban on the manufacture and sale of absinthe liqueur or spirit (2011 for France), often maintaining regulations on the thujone content.
USES of ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM, ABSINTHE, WORMWOOD
Traditionally, absinthe is used in AQUEOUS INFUSION (tea or herbal tea):
- To promote digestion,
- like « tonic »,
- to eliminate intestinal parasites,
- to fight against viral infections.
It is very bitter, but non-toxic because there is very little thujone in this infusion.
The main indication of absinthe is to improve the appetite (aperitif plant), more secondarily to facilitate digestion and as a « tonifying » plant.
It can also be made into an ALCOHOLIC MACERATION which is also found in certain herbalists: this preparation contains thujone and is therefore contraindicated in young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women.
It is used sparingly (bitterness) in a little water for the same indications (digestion, tonic, parasites, fever).
In the French West Indies, the maceration of absinthe or mugwort in agricultural rum is especially appreciated as a « takeoff » (to start the day well) to be consumed with great moderation because of the presence of neurotoxic thujone.
Recently some studies have shown that powdered wormwood (500 mg 3 times a day in capsules) could soothe inflammatory colonic disorders (irritable bowel and Crohn’s disease).
Absinthe also helps reduce the effects of type 2 diabetes (Chinese study).
Wormwood essential oil is moderately antiseptic; it is not used orally because of its thujone content. It would be active on certain pathogenic protozoa, but without medical applications to my knowledge.
ABSINTHE CULTURE
Wormwood, Artemisia absinthium, is easy to grow. It is propagated by seed, by cutting, by root fragmentation. Wormwood seeds or plants can be found in garden centers or seed stores.
Be careful not to plant them too close to other more fragile plants, wormwood can prevent the development or eliminate certain plants.
It can be used (it seems) to keep certain parasitic insects away from vegetables or to make a « manure » which discourages slugs and snails.
Wormwood does not like wet soil and prefers full sun. We harvest the well-developed leaves and dry them in the shade.
SOME RELATED PLANTS
Other similar-looking “sagebrushes” are also medicinal or useful.
Artemisia annua, or Chinese mugwort, used for a long time in traditional Chinese medicine and at the origin of very important anti-malarial drugs (artemisinin derivatives) because they are active on nivaquine-resistant forms of Plasmodium falciparum.
Artemisia vulgaris, common mugwort or lemon mugwort, very common and considered invasive. Its pollen causes respiratory allergies, but it is nevertheless a traditional medicinal plant (aperitif, anti-spasmodic, anti-helminthic, and interacting negatively on female fertility)
Artemisia abrotanum or aurone, less used but also an aperitif, sudorific, regulating periods and repelling insects (bag of dry aurone leaves).
Copyright 2024: Dr Jean-Michel Hurtel