Nutritional characterisation and antioxidant capacity of different tissues of Artemisia annua L.

Evaluation of different tissues of Artemisia annua for their nutritional contents and antioxidant potential demonstrated that the leaves and inflorescences had the highest percentage of protein, crude fat and in vitro digestible fractions but the lowest levels of detergent fibres. These tissues also had the highest composition of the major elements as well as manganese and copper. Their relatively high amino acid and vitamin profiles equally reflect a desirable nutritional balance adding to their high antioxidant capacities. Collectively, these high levels of the different nutritional constituents and antioxidant activities coupled with the very low and often negligible levels of inherent anti-nutritive factors, especially in the leaves, which are far below recommended toxic levels, establishes A. annua as a good reservoir of nutrients and antioxidants that might favour its use as a potential herbal tonic by humans or an important supplementary feed additive for livestock production systems. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.