Description

Wormwood oil is extracted from Artemisia absinthium of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family and is also known as green ginger, armoise, common wormwood and absinthium.

Oil properties

Wormwood oil is a toxin, neurotoxin and an abortifacient.

Origin of wormwood

This perennial herb grows up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) and has a whitish stem, silvery-green, divided leaves, covered with silky, fine hairs, and pale yellow flowers.

It was used as an aromatic-bitter for anorexia, as a digestive tonic, to promote menstruation and to reduce fever and expel worms.

Wormwood was used in the liqueur absinthe. Prolonged consumption of this drink became known as ‘absinthism’.

The symptoms of absinthism included auditory and visual hallucinations, hyper excitability, intellectual enfeeblement, addiction and in extreme cases brain damage.

It is widely believed that it was absinthe that drove the painter Vincent van Gogh to suicide.

In 1915 the French banned the production of a drink called absinthe because of its narcotic and habit-forming properties.

Extraction

Wormseed oil is extracted from the leaves and flowering tops by steam distillation.

Chemical composition

The main chemical components of wormseed oil are a-thujone, b-thujone, sabinene, myrcene, trans-sabinol, trans- sabinyl acetate, linalyl acetate and geranyl propionate.

Precautions

Wormwood oil should not be used in aromatherapy since it contains an extremely high amount of thujone which is a convulsant and neurotoxin.