Botanical species · safety record

Artemisia dracunculus

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 37 constituent measurements, 4 adverse-effect records and 4 genotoxicity assays for Artemisia dracunculus. This page reports what those source records contain and how to reach them. It carries no effect estimate, no dose and no recommendation.

Accepted name in source: Artemisia dracunculus L.

37Constituent measurements

8Safety records

14Cited sources

15Licensed products (Canada)

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 15 licensed products naming Artemisia dracunculus as a medicinal ingredient, matched on the exact Latin binomial. A licence records that a product met the regulator's requirements for sale in Canada. It is not evidence that the product works.

Extract types on licence

Source material stated

Flowering herb
Herb top
Leaf
Shoot
Whole plant
Whole plant(s)

What the records describe

Constituents measured

Plant parts

Preparations

Effect types

Target tissues

Recorded constituents

What analytical work has found in this species, at which plant part and preparation. A measured constituent is a fact about material, not about effect.

Substance	Plant part	Preparation	Concentration	Analytical method	Source
(e)-isoelemicin	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≤ 8 Percent	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
(e)-isoelemicin	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≥ 2 Percent	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Alpha-methyl naphthyl ketone	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	9.1 Percent	Gaschromatography (GC)	Resolve DOI
Elemicin	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≥ 10 Percent	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Elemicin	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≤ 57 Percent	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	Solvent extraction	≤ 1.75 Milligram/litre	Gaschromatography (GC)	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Leaves	Solvent extraction	2900 Microgram/gram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Unspecified	Essential oil	77.5 Percent	Gaschromatography (GC)	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Unspecified	Essential oil	≥ 60 Percent	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Estragole	—	Essential oil	≥ 77 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Estragole	—	Essential oil	≤ 89 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≥ 1 Percent	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≤ 82 Percent	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	Fresh	≥ 21 Microgram/gram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	Fresh	≤ 40 Microgram/gram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Eugenol	Leaves	Solvent extraction	26 Microgram/gram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Herniarin	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	12 Percent	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Herniarin	Leaves	Solvent extraction	26 Microgram/gram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Methyl 2-naphthyl ketone	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	2.1 Percent	Gaschromatography (GC)	Resolve DOI
Methyleugenol	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≥ 1 Percent	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Methyleugenol	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≤ 39 Percent	Unspecified	Resolve DOI
Methyleugenol	Aerial part of plants	Fresh	≥ 280 Microgram/gram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Methyleugenol	Aerial part of plants	Fresh	≤ 337 Microgram/gram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Methyleugenol	Aerial part of plants	Solvent extraction	≤ 1.69 Milligram/litre	Gaschromatography (GC)	Resolve DOI
Methyleugenol	Aerial part of plants	Solvent extraction	340 Microgram/gram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
(e)-isoelemicin	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	2.1 Percent	GC-FID	No resolvable identifier
Asarone	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≤ 9 Percent	GC-MS	No resolvable identifier
Asarone	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≥ 3 Percent	GC-MS	No resolvable identifier
Elemicin	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	2.3 Percent	GC-FID	No resolvable identifier
Elemicin	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≤ 26 Percent	GC-MS	No resolvable identifier
Elemicin	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≥ 22 Percent	GC-MS	No resolvable identifier
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	71.3 Percent	GC-FID	No resolvable identifier
Estragole	Unspecified	Essential oil	60 Percent	Unspecified	No resolvable identifier
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	60 Percent	GC-FID	No resolvable identifier
Methyleugenol	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≥ 34 Percent	GC-MS	No resolvable identifier
Methyleugenol	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≤ 37 Percent	GC-MS	No resolvable identifier
Myrcene	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	1.2 Percent	GC-FID	No resolvable identifier

Recorded adverse effects

Adverse effects reported in the source literature, most often in animal or laboratory models at a stated preparation and dose.

Effect	Target tissue	Plant part	Preparation	Test organism	Test type	Source
Digestive	Liver	—	—	House mouse (as animal)	Other	Resolve DOI
Digestive	Liver	—	—	House mouse (as animal)	Chronic/long term toxicity	Resolve DOI
Hepatotoxicity	Liver	Unspecified	Solvent extraction	House mouse (as animal)	Short-term toxicity	Resolve DOI
None	—	Aerial part of plants	Solvent extraction	Rat (as animal)	Subchronic	Resolve DOI

Genotoxicity testing

Outcomes of genotoxicity assays as recorded in the source. A negative assay is a result under those test conditions, not a clearance.

Outcome	Endpoint	Test	Tested organism	Metabolic activation	Source
Positive	DNA damage and/or repair	single cell gel/comet assay in mammalian cells for detection of DNA damage	Human (as organism)	Not applicable	Resolve DOI
Positive	DNA damage and/or repair	unscheduled DNA synthesis	Rat (as animal)	—	Resolve DOI
Positive	DNA damage and/or repair	Bacillus subtilis recombination assay	Bacillus subtilis (as organism)	—	Resolve DOI
Positive	gene mutation	mitotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae	Saccharomyces cerevisiae (as organism)	—	No resolvable identifier

Cited sources

The literature the compendium cites for this species. Metatron Health has no relationship with these authors or journals and earns nothing from citing them.

Verma, Mahendra K., Anand, Rajneesh., Chisti, Abdul M., Kitchlu, Surinder., Chandra, Suresh., Shawl, Abdul S., Khajuria, Ravi Kant. Essential Oil Composition of Artemisia dracunculus L. (Tarragon) Growing in Kashmir - India. JOURNAL OF ESSENTIAL OIL BEARING PLANTS, 2010, vol. 13, no. 3, p. 331-335.
Kalantari, Heibatullah., Galehdari, Hamid., Zaree, Zahra., Gesztelyi, Rudolf., Varga, Balazs., Haines, David., Bombicz, Mariann., Tosaki, Arpad., Juhasz, Bela. Toxicological and mutagenic analysis of Artemisia dracunculus (tarragon) extract. FOOD AND CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGY, 2013, vol. 51, p. 26-32. DOI
Nesslany, F., Parent-Massin, D., Marzin, D. Risk assessment of consumption of methylchavicol and tarragon: The genotoxic potential in vivo and in vitro. Mutation Research - Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis, 2010, vol. 696, no. 1, p. 1-9. DOI
Bianchi-Santamaria, Amalia., Tateo, Fernando., Santamaria, Leonida. Antimutagenic action of beta-carotene, canthaxathin and extracts of Rosmarinus officinalis and Melissa officinalis. Genotoxicity of basil and tarragon oil.. Special Publication - Royal Society of Chemistry, 1993, vol. 123, no. Food and Cancer Prevention: Chemical and Biological Aspects, p. 75-81.
Weinoehrl, Stefanie., Feistel, Bjoern., Pischel, Ivo., Kopp, Brigitte., Butterweck, Veronika. Comparative Evaluation of Two Different Artemisia dracunculus L. Cultivars for Blood Sugar Lowering Effects in Rats. PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH, 2012, vol. 26, no. 4, p. 625-629. DOI
Zeller, A., Rychlik, M. Impact of estragole and other odorants on the flavour of anise and tarragon. Flavour and fragrance journal, 2007, vol. 22, no. 2, p. 105-113. DOI
ZANI, F., MASSIMO, G., BENVENUTI, S., BIANCHI, A., ALBASINI, A., MELEGARI, M., VAMPA, G., BELLOTTI, A., MAZZA, P. STUDIES ON THE GENOTOXIC PROPERTIES OF ESSENTIAL OILS WITH BACILLUS-SUBTILIS REC-ASSAY AND SALMONELLA MICROSOME REVERSION ASSAY. PLANTA MEDICA, 1991, vol. 57, no. 3, p. 237-241. DOI
De Vincenzi, M., Silano, M., Maialetti, F., Scazzocchio, B. Constituents of aromatic plants: II. Estragole. FITOTERAPIA, 2000, vol. 71, no. 6, p. 725-729. DOI
Dohi, Satomi., Terasaki, Masanori., Makino, Masakazu. Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Activity and Chemical Composition of Commercial Essential Oils. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY, 2009, vol. 57, no. 10, p. 4313-4318. DOI
Obolsliy, Dmitry., Pischel, Ivo., Feistel, Bjoern., Glotov, Nikolay., Heinrich, Michael. Artemisia dracunculus L. (Tarragon): A Critical Review of Its Traditional Use, Chemical Composition, Pharmacology, and Safety . Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 2011, vol. 59, no. 21, p. 11367-11384. DOI
Jeppesen, Anne Saerkjaer., Soelberg, Jens., Jager, Anna Katharina. Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil from Nine Medicinal Plants of the Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan. JOURNAL OF ESSENTIAL OIL BEARING PLANTS, 2012, vol. 15, no. 2, p. 204-212. DOI
Nurzynska-Wierdak, Renata., Zawislak, Grazyna. HERB YIELD AND BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS OF TARRAGON (Artemisia dracunculus L.) AS INFLUENCED BY PLANT DENSITY. ACTA SCIENTIARUM POLONORUM-HORTORUM CULTUS, 2014, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 207-221.
Tateo, Fernando., Santamaria, Leonida., Bianchi, Livia., Bianchi, Amalia. Basil oil and tarragon oil: composition and genotoxicity evaluation.. Journal of essential oil research, 1989, vol. 1, no. 3, p. 111-18.
Ribnicky, DM., Poulev, A., O'Neal, J., Wnorowski, G., Malek, DE., Jager, R., Raskin, I. Toxicological evaluation of the ethanolic extract of Artemisia dracunculus L. for use as a dietary supplement and in functional foods . Food and chemical toxicology, 2004, vol. 42, no. 4, p. 585-598. DOI

Boundary

A constituent measurement is a fact about material at a stated preparation, not a statement about what that material does in a person. An adverse-effect or genotoxicity record is an observation reported in a source, most often in an animal or laboratory model. Neither is a Metatron Health conclusion about causality, human risk or benefit, and the absence of a record is not proof that a preparation is safe. Nothing here is diagnosis, prescribing or individual medical care.

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