The aerial parts of Artemisia gmelinii Weber ex Stechm were collected from the northeast of China. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC-MS. A set of 66 compounds were identified representing 99.1% of the oil composition. The major compounds in the oil were cyclobutaneethanol, endo-borneol, germacrene D, eucalyptol, selin-6-en-4α-ol, bisabolone oxide A, caryophyllene and terpinen-4-ol. Moreover, the essential oil was evaluated for its antioxidant, antidiabetic, and anticholinesterase activities in vitro. Additionally, the antioxidant potential of the oil was evaluated using DPPH and ABTS assays. The oil showed good antidiabetic activity with an IC50 of 63.2 µg/mL, which was similar to that of the positive control acarbose, and weak anticholinesterase activities. These findings demonstrated that the essential oil of Artemisia gmelinii may be a good natural antidiabetic.
Keywords: Artemisia gmelinii Weber ex Stechm; GC-MS; antidiabetic activity; antioxidant activity; cholinesterase inhibitory activity; docking studies.