Artemisinin isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia annua L. is a promising and potent antimalarialdrug. It posses remarkable activity against both chloroquinine resistant as well as chloroquinine sensitivestrains of Plasmodium falciparumArtemisinin isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia annua L. is a promising andpotentantimalarialdrug. It posses remarkable activity against both chloroquinine resistant as well as chloroquinine sensitivestrains of Plasmodium falciparum. It is also useful in the treatment of cerebral malaria. The relatively low content of artemisinin in A. annua and unavailability of cost effective and viable synthetic protocol however, are major obstacles to the commercial production of the drug. The enhanced production of artemisinin is hence, highly desirable, which can be achieved by adequate and judicious supply of plant nutrients. The present experiment was therefore, designed to study the effect of organic manure (15 tonnes ha−1) and chemical fertilizers (N40+40, P40, K40, S15+15 kg ha−1; nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium
and sulphur) on the accumulation of artemisinin and biomass in various plant parts through the developmental stages of A. annua L. Artemisinin yield (kg ha−1) was also determined through the developmental stages of A. annua L. Artemisinin content and artemisinin yield of dried leaves were increased significantly at pre-flowering stage in the plants treated with NPKS (27.3% and 53.6%) and NPK (18.2% and 33.5%), respectively, when compared with control. Maximum dry yield of leaf ranging from 2596 to
3141 kg ha−1 was observed at pre-flowering stage with various treatments. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.