Masoumeh Mazandarani - Department of Botany, Gorgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran
Zahra Majidi - Department of Botany, Gorgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran
Parastoo Zarghami-Moghaddam - Research Center of Natural Products Safety and Medicinal Plants, North Khorasan University of Medical Science, Bojnurd, Iran
Mehdi Abrodi - Young Researchers Club, Gorgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran
Helen Hemati - Baharan Higher Education Institute of Gorgan, Gorgan, Iran
Fatemeh Fathiazad - Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

In this study, we evaluate the different biological activities of Artemisia annua L., locally known as "Moureh", in various altitudes in North of Iran, which has been used as sedative, fever few, anti inflammation, insecticide and anti infection to treat many current diseases. Parts of plants were collected from two different localities (۲۳-۱۰۰۰ m) in Mazandaran province, North of Iran. The most important of secondary metabolites of total phenolics (TP), total flavonoids (TF) and total anthocyanin (TA) content  of extracts were investigated by spectrophotometry method and their antioxidant activity were obtained  by Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), Reducing Power (RP) and ۱,۱-diphenyl-۲-picryl hydrazyl radical scavenging (DPPH). The essential oils were obtained by hydro distillated in a Clevenger-type apparatus for ۵h and analyzed by GC/MS. Results indicate that the main components in essential oils were identified as Artemisia  ketone (۲۵.۵۴- ۱۳.۶%), followed by ۱,۸-cineole (۱۱.۹۸-۱۳.۲۶%), camphor (۱۱.۸۹-۱۳.۶۸%), α-pinene (۱۰.۱۱-۹.۲۹%) in AFRACHAL (۱۰۰۰m) and DOLAT ABAD (۲۳m) regions , respectively.  TP content had significant variation in different plant parts and regions, ranging from (۱۱.۲۲ to ۱۶.۹۴) mgGAEg-۱, TF content (۱۱.۶۲ to ۶۳.۷۴) mgQUE g-۱and quantity of TA (۰.۰۳ to ۳.۵۹) mgCGEg-۱.The highest contents of secondary metabolites were found in aerial parts when compared with the other parts. Amount of antioxidant activity(IC۵۰) in various parts of A. annua L. was measured (۱.۹۸ to ۴.۲) in DPPH, (۷.۰۷ to ۷.۴۶) in TAC and (۵.۲۶ to ۸.۰۴) in RP methods. In general, the highest contents of activities were found in aerial parts when compared with the other parts, whereas this part with the highest amount of IC۵۰ had the weakest antioxidant activity.

Artemisia annua L, essential oil, Phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, Iran