Malaria and Artemisia annua: Agronomic Research in Switzerland

Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone extracted from the leaves of Artemisia annua, is now under the aegis of WHO, the spearhead of the global fight against malaria. This molecule isolated and characterized in the early seventies, is present only in this Asteraceae and so far not synthesizable. The sudden and very strong growth in demand for artemisinin since 2005 caused a great interest in developing large-scale cultures. Security of supply and lowering the cost of production are the key objectives for this new crop. With the benefit of more than fifteen years of experience in breeding and cultivation of the species, Médiplant was in "pole position" to meet these challenges.

This presentation has the objective to give an overview of the research and development activities of Mediplant with Artemisia annua. In the recent years, research work is mainly oriented towards the breeding for high levels of artemisinin in the leaves. The cultivars of Mediplant actually contents of 1.5% to 2.0% of artemisinin in the leaves, compared to 0.5% 15 years ago. The development of this new field crop in countries of Africa and South America, interested for producing Artemisia annua, allows a direct transfer of knowledge and a very instructive feedback for updating the cultivation problems and research topics.