Capillary GLC controls of some alpineArtemisiae and of the related liqueurs

Summary Artemisia genipi Weber,Artemisia umbelliformis Lam. andArtemisia glacialis L. are plants of the Compositae family, traditionally employed in manufacturing a liqueur called genepi. Indiscriminate picking of these plants has increased their rarity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether it was possible to cultivate these three rare mountain plants, and to assess the quality of plants available commercially and also of manufactured liqueurs. The results of the gas chromatographic analyses of volatile components from both plants and liqueurs are reported. In the present investigation three different techniques were used: direct head-space analysis by capillary GC of plants and liqueurs, and capillary GC analysis of the volatile extracts of plants and liqueurs after two different microdistillation processes.