Artemisinin in combination with another drug is the best current antimalarial therapy. Dried leaves of Artemisia annua from which artemisinin is extracted and purified may offer a better treatment. We used GC-MS and the AlCl3 assay to measure the stability of artemisinin and flavonoids in dried leaves after wetting and with long term dry storage. Neither 24 hour water immersion nor long term dry storage affected artemisinin stability. Short-term drying showed a drop in flavonoid stability initially and then a gradual increase in total flavonoid levels after sixteen weeks of storage.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Ghilardi, Meredith Anne
• Purnell, Jason Andrew

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-043014-220105

Advisor

• Weathers, Pamela

Year

• 2014

Date created

• 2014-04-30

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Biology & Biotechnology

Rights statement

• In Copyright