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Title: Adaption and agronomic performance of Artemisia annua L. under lowland humid tropical conditions

Author
item BRISIBE, EBIAMADON - University Of Nigeria
item UDENSI, OGBU - University Of Nigeria
item CHUKWURAH, PETER - University Of Nigeria
item MAGALHAES, PEDO - Universidade De Campinas (UNICAMP)
item FIGUEIRA, GLYN - Universidade De Campinas (UNICAMP)
item Ferreira, Jorge

Submitted to: Industrial Crops and Products
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/13/2012
Publication Date: 3/1/2012
Citation: Brisibe, E., Udensi, O., Chukwurah, P.N., Magalhaes, P.M., Figueira, G.M., Ferreira, J.F. 2012. Adaption and agronomic performance of Artemisia annua L. under lowland humid tropical conditions. Industrial Crops and Products. 39:190-197.

Interpretive Summary: The need for new antimalarial drugs is increasing as the causative organism of the disease has developed a high degree of resistance against most commercial antimalarial drugs. Artemisinin, a major bioactive plant chemical produced by leaves of the sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) is effective against multi-drug resistant malaria and is the raw material used to produce artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). Sweet wormwood is mainly cultivated under cool (temperate) climates and high altitudes. This field study evaluated sweet wormwood plants under the agricultural landscape of the lowland humid tropics, and identified promising selections capable of producing high leaf biomass and artemisinin yields. Differences between seed origin, planting season and soil moisture availability had highly significant (P<0.01) effects on most of the agronomic characteristics evaluated, indicating that these are very critical factors when considering the cultivation of sweet wormwood in the humid tropics. Two hybrid selections non-responsive to photoperiod, and evaluated in our field trials, had suitable agronomic potential, including the production of fresh leaf biomass yield in excess of 30 tons/ha with an average concentration of artemisinin up to 1.1%. Our work shows that the combination of management practices with sweet wormwood selections high in artemisinin can make the commercial production of artemisinin a reality where malaria is still endemic, and artemisinin most needed: the lowland humid tropics.

Technical Abstract: Demand for new chemotherapies against malaria is increasing as Plasmodium, the causative organism of the disease, has shown a high degree of resistance against most standard anti-malarial drugs. One the few highly effective compounds is artemisinin, the major sesquiterpene for the production of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), which is extracted from the leaves of Artemisia annua, a plant that is mainly cultivated under cool (temperate) climates and high altitudes. The current study examined the possibility of introducing A. annua germplasm into the agricultural landscape of the lowland humid tropics in field experiments and identified promising accessions that are capable of producing high leaf biomass and artemisinin yields. Differences among seed origin, planting season and soil moisture availability had highly significant (P<0.01) effects on most of the agronomic characteristics evaluated, suggesting that these are very critical factors when considering the cultivation of A. annua in the humid tropics. Two non-photoperiodic hybrid lines evaluated in the trials had suitable agronomic potential, including the production of fresh leaf biomass yield in excess of 30 tons/ha with up to 1.0975% artemisinin concentration. With improved management practices and using the high accessions, there is an inspiring possibility that the cultivation of A. annua can be optimized in the tropics for the extraction of the antimalarial artemisinin drug.