Blumea balsamifera DC. is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Asteraceae family. Its medicinal name is Diangd vob bvid, and it is also known as Da Feng Ai, Bing Ben Ai, and Jia Feng Ai. It is mainly produced in Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan, and other regions. Folk records have the effects of treating injuries caused by falls, boils, abscesses, eczema, dermatitis, dispelling stagnation and fire, reducing swelling and pain, etc. They are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, postpartum wind pain, dysmenorrhea and other diseases. They have a long history of medication in Li, Zhuang, Miao and other areas. The leaves and branches of Artemisia argyi can be used to extract Artemisia argyi powder, which can be refined into natural ice flakes, with the byproduct being ice flake oil. Natural borneol can dispel stagnation heat, clear heat and relieve pain, and awaken the mind, so it is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. The raw materials of Artemisia argyi leaves are usually treated as waste residue after the extraction and production of “Artemisia argyi slices”, which causes a great waste of resources. Preliminary analysis shows that these residues still contain a large amount of functional ingredients such as flavonoids. Therefore, in-depth study of the non-volatile components of Artemisia annua and exploration of its medicinal efficacy have important scientific and practical value. Our research group has previously reported on some flavonoids in Artemisia annua and their antioxidant and α – glucosidase inhibitory activities. In order to further investigate the non-volatile components in Artemisia annua and explore its potential applications in cosmetics development and pigmentary skin diseases, this study used various chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques to isolate, purify, and identify the non-volatile components in the aboveground part of Artemisia annua. Furthermore, DPPH method and tyrosinase catalyzed levodopa oxidation rate method were used to screen the in vitro antioxidant activity and tyrosinase inhibitor activity of the compounds.

This article studies this from two aspects: antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory activity. In this study, various chromatographic methods were used to isolate and purify 18 compounds from the aerial parts of Artemisia. Compounds 10, 14, and 18 were isolated for the first time from plants of the Artemisia genus, and compound 13 was isolated for the first time from Artemisia. The activity test results showed that compounds 3-5, 7-12, and 18 exhibited strong DPPH radical scavenging ability, while compounds 7, 13, 14, 16, and 17 had good tyrosinase inhibitor activity. The results showed that there was little correlation between the DPPH radical scavenging ability of the compound and the tyrosinase inhibitor activity. Only compound 7 showed good activity in both experimental tests, and its specific mechanism of action still needs further research. Flavonoids are a strong class of antioxidants, such as quercetin, luteolin, and quercetin, all of which have strong antioxidant properties. There are research reports that compounds 3-5, 7-9, 11-13, and 18 have strong DPPH radical scavenging ability. There are studies showing that compounds 4, 5, 7, and 13 have good inhibitory effects on tyrosinase, while the inhibitory effects of other compounds on tyrosinase have not been reported. This article systematically isolated and purified compounds in Artemisia annua, and studied their antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory activities. The research results provide scientific basis and theoretical support for the further application of Artemisia annua resources in antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibition, and also provide some ideas and directions for the development and application of Artemisia annua in the fields of human pigmentary skin diseases and daily chemical products.