Impact of Extended Natural Drying on Yields, Constituents, and Biological Activities of Artemisia monosperma Delile Essential Oils.

Aromatic plants and their derived essential oils have great economic value, medicinal applications, and traditional applications. This study investigates the effect of natural drying procedures on the yield of essential oils obtained from Artemisia monosperma Delile by the hydrodistillation method. The study also compares the phytochemistry and biological activity of essential oils of the fresh sample (A0) and extended natural dried samples for successive 5 weeks (A1-A5, respectively) of the plant. The study found that fresh plant material yielded significantly more essential oil than dried batches, with extended shade drying reducing oil production by 23.7%, which emphasizes the requirement to optimize drying methods for maximum yield. The GC-MS and GC-flame ionization detector (FID) analysis revealed distinct variations between all oil batches. The essential oil from the most dried sample (A5) contained 31 volatile constituents, with significant variability in chemical profiles across other batches, whereas β-pinene and several major compounds remained stable. Extended drying enhanced some compounds like p-cymene and resulted in reduced concentrations of others, highlighting the complex effects of drying on oil composition. The antioxidant activity of A. monosperma essential oils from fresh and extended dried samples was evaluated, showing nonsignificant variations in metal-reducing and DPPH radical scavenging effects. The antiproliferative results showed weak cytotoxic effects among all batches, with the A1 batch exhibiting marked activity against MCF-7 cells (IC50 = 24.54 µg/mL) compared to the HSF normal fibroblast cells (IC50 55.61 µg/mL), indicating selectivity to the cancer cells. Flow cytometry results indicate that the A1 exerts a time-dependent apoptotic and necrotic effect on MCF-7 cancer cells. These findings highlight the significance of drying techniques in maximizing essential oil yields and compositions from A. monosperma, along with their prospective therapeutic applications. Additional investigation is necessary to identify the active constituents responsible for the documented biological activities.