Artemisia species  / Génépi

Génépi: plante médicinale stimulante, tonique, fébrifuge

Le Génépi est une petite plante qui mesure entre 5 cm et 20 cm. Sa tige est velue et soyeuse, de couleur grise, et ses fleurs sont minuscules et jaunes. Le Génépi s’écrit aussi parfois Genépi ou Génépy. Il est également surnommé « Génépi des Glaciers » ou « Génépi des Alpes ».

Sous le terme Génépi, on décrit quatre variétés d’armoises de haute montagne, dont les propriétés sont identiques :

• • le génépi vrai : Artemisia glacialis(génépi mâle)

  • le génépi noir : Artemisia spicata(génépi femelle)

  • le génépi blanc : Artemisia mutellina

  • le génépi à fleurs laineuses : Artemisia eriantha

Propriétés :

• • stimulant gastrique

  • tonique général

  • fébrifuge, remède des « chaud et froid »

  • facilite la menstruation

  • vulnéraire (interne et externe).

Indications :

• • manque d’appétit

  • asthénie

  • affections pulmonaires dues au refroidissement

  • règles insuffisantes

  • gastriques, entérites.

Comment l’utiliser :

• • infusion à 30-50 g par litre d’eau. 2 à 4 tasses par jour

  • en liqueur sucrée (coups de froid, « coups de barre» chez les alpinistes).

Le génépi bâtard, ou achillée laineuse (Achillea nana), bénéficie des mêmes vertus.

Internetlinks

• Artemisia genepi, Valsavarenche, Aosta Valley, Italy

• Topical anti-inflammatory activity of Eupatilin, a... [J Agric Food Chem. 2009] - PubMed result

• Genepolide, a sesterpene gamma-lactone with a nove... [J Nat Prod. 2009] - PubMed result

Artemisia umbelliformis Lam. and Génépi Liqueur: Volatile Profile as Diagnostic Marker for Geographic Origin and To Predict Liqueur Safety. Lorenzo Boggia 1, Giuseppe Pignata 2, Barbara Sgorbini 1, Maria Laura Colombo 1, Arianna Marengo 3, Manuela Casale 2, Silvana Nicola 2, Carlo Bicchi 1, Patrizia Rubiolo 1. J Agric Food Chem. 2017 Apr 5;65(13):2849-2856. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b03394. Epub 2017 Mar 23.

Abstract

Artemisia umbelliformis, commonly known as "white génépi", is characterized by a volatile fraction rich in α- and β-thujones, two monoterpenoids; under European Union (EU) regulations these are limited to 35 mg/L in Artemisia-based beverages because of their recognized activity on the human central nervous system. This study reports the results of an investigation to define the geographical origin and thujone content of individual plants of A. umbelliformis from different geographical sites, cultivated experimentally at a single site, and to predict the thujone content in the resulting liqueurs through their volatile fraction. Headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and non-separative HS-SPME-MS were used as analytical platforms to create a database suitable for chemometric description and prediction through linear discriminant analysis (LDA). HS-SPME-MS was applied to shorten analysis time. With both approaches, a diagnostic prediction of (i) plant geographical origin and (ii) thujone content of plant-related liqueurs could be made.

The génépi Artemisia species. Ethnopharmacology, cultivation, phytochemistry, and bioactivity José F. Vouillamoz a, ⁎, Christoph Carlen a , Orazio Taglialatela-Scafati b , Federica Pollastro c , Giovanni Appendino c, ⁎ Fitoterapia  Received 2 April 2015

Received in revised form 9 July 2015  / Available online 8 September 2015

Wormwoods (Artemisia species) from the génépi group are, along with Edelweiss, iconic plants of the Alpine region and true symbols of inaccessibility because of their rarity and their habitat, largely limited to moraines of glaciers and rock crevices. Infusions and liqueurs prepared from génépis have always enjoyed a panacea status infolk medicine, especially as thermogenic agents and remedies for fatigue, dyspepsia, and airway infections. Inthe wake of the successful cultivation of white génépi (Artemisia umbelliformis Lam.) and the expansion of its supply chain, modern studies have evidenced the occurrence of unique constituents, whose chemistry, biologicalprofile, and sensory properties are reviewed along with the ethnopharmacology, botany, cultivation and conservation strategies of their plant sources.  .............

Gastric protection

In general, alcohol and alcoholic beverages have markedly different effects on gastric acid secretion, with non-alcoholic ingredients, and not alcohol, being actually responsible for the stimulatory gastric action of plant-based alcoholic beverages like beer, wine and liqueurs [78]. Remarkably, the increased secretion of gastric juices associated with these alcoholic beverages has been associated in folk medicine withgastroprotection [76], and this association seems especially wellfounded for génépi. All wormwood from the génépi group that we have investigated (A. genipi, A. umbelliformis, A. eriantha) contain the lipophilic phenolic eupatilin (20) in concentrations ranging from 100 to 200 mg/kg [62]. Eupatilin is a potent anti-inflammatory agent, equipotent to indomethacine in the Croton-oil-induced dermatitis assay and with an overall in vivo topical anti-inflammatory activity qualitatively similar to that of hydrocortisone, and intermediate, in terms of potency, between those of steroid-and non-steroid drugs [79]. Eupatilin directly inhibits the production of leukotrienes by inhibiting the enzyme 5-lipo-oxygenase (5-LO), suppressing the genomic expression of leukotrienes and related pro-inflammatory enzymes by acting at the level of transcription factors like NF-kB and STAT3, with little direct activity on prostaglandin producing enzymes being observed [79]. Although no human data are available on the oral absorption of eupatilin, animal data evidenced a low absorption, with almost 70% of the dosage not absorbed by the gastro-intestinal tract [80]. It seems therefore unlikely that the low concentrations of eupatilin in génépis and their products can exert any systemic anti-inflammatory activity. 

On the other hand, topical activity at the intestinal level seems possible, especially in the light of the successful development of an eupatilin-containing herbal drug (Stillen®) as a gastro-protecting agent in South Korea. In the wake of the discovery that extracts from Artemisia asiatica Nakai exert potent cytoprotective and antiapoptotic effects in gastric and esophageal epithelial primary cells [81], a formulated ethanol extract containing 1 mg eupatilin/dosage as the active ingredient was developed as an anti-ulcer and gastroprotective agent [81]. The mucosal protective activity has been related to a combination of stimulation of mucus and bicarbonate secretion, local increase in prostaglandins and glutathione, and enhancement of mucosal blood flow [81]. Although the product is claimed to be validated by phase 3 and phase 4 investigations, no clinical study of Stillen® as a gastroprotectant is actually present in the indexed literature available from PubMed as of January 12, 2015. Assuming a concentration of eupatilin of 0.2 mg/g of génépi plant material and an excellent extraction with warm water, an intake of eupatilin in the range of 1 mg can be achieved in génépis herbal teas, but not in liqueurs, where other types of compounds might be responsible for this activity, in particular the exomethylene-γ-lactones that, just like eupatilin, inhibit proinflammatory transcription factors like NF-κB and that, because of their lipophilicity, might be better extracted in water-ethanol rather than in warm water.