Korean Artemisia species: phylogenomic authentication, ethnopharmacology, and commercial applications

Artemisia species are integral to traditional Korean medicine and are increasingly used in medicinal and cosmeceutical products. However, taxonomic ambiguity, chemical variability, and limited clinical validation constrain their reliable therapeutic and commercial utilization. This review critically examines how phylogenomic evidence can be integrated with ethnopharmacology and phytochemistry to strengthen the authentication, scientific evaluation, and quality-controlled development of Artemisia taxa occurring in Korea. Its distinctive contribution is a Korea-focused synthesis linking chloroplast-genome variation, traditional medicinal categories, species-associated phytochemical profiles, pharmacological evidence, and commercial quality requirements. Complete plastome analyses provide greater phylogenetic resolution than many single-locus approaches, whereas variable regions such as ycf1, accD, and selected intergenic spacers offer candidate markers for species authentication. Nevertheless, chloroplast-based identification may remain insufficient for closely related taxa and should be complemented by nuclear markers, morphology, and chemical profiling. Korean Artemisia taxa contain sesquiterpene lactones, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and volatile terpenoids associated mainly with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and hepatoprotective effects in preclinical studies. These findings should not be interpreted as established clinical efficacy. Plastome divergence alone does not directly explain specialized-metabolite production or therapeutic activity. Future research should prioritize authenticated germplasm, integrated multi-omics, standardized extraction, toxicological and clinical validation, sustainable cultivation, and harmonized regulatory quality control.