Selection of high artemisinin yielding Artemisia annua

Artemisia annua L. seeds from North Viet Nam were germinated and continuously propagated by tissue culture technique. Three-week-old plantlets were transplanted from the laboratory into the field under tropical climatic conditions and assayed for artemisinin at different stages of growth. The plants had short stature (100 cm), early flowering (14 weeks), short growth span (18-20 weeks), variable artemisinin content and produced no seeds. The highest artemisinin yield was found in the leaves of twelve (0.13-0.31%) to thirteen (0.12-0.39%) weeks old plants during pre-flowering periods. Plantlets in the test tubes were randomly selected and cloned. Statistical comparison of the artemisinin content from the various clones indicated that they may be grouped as high (0.41-0.42%), moderate (0.25-0.26%), and low (0.13%) artemisinin yielders.