Colture artificiali di piante medicinali: Artemisia petrosa subsp. eriantha (genepì appenninico)

Artemisia petrosa subsp. eriantha (Genepì) is a central Apennines’ endemic, lives in rock crevices and on gravel slopes, at altitudes above 2200 m. Genepì has great medical importance, but, since it has a relevant ecological role, it is protected by an Italian Regional Law and cannot be harvested. In vitro propagation could allow the preservation of the plant and could be a way to obtain regenerated plants, from which drug can be collected. In our work the plants, collected in nature, have been multiplied using classical in vitro culture techniques, and then transplanted in ground. Essential oils obtained from regenerated plants, have been characterized using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. All the oils exhibit a high quantity of tujoni, which increase during plant development, but with a minor trend with respect to plants in nature. In vitro propagated plants are different from plants in nature since they produce oils particularly reach in sesquiterpenS.