Bioconversion of arteannuin B to artemisinin.

Arteannuin B, which co-occurs with artemisinin, the potent antimalarial principle of the Chinese medicinal herb Artemisia annua (Asteraceae), has been converted to the latter using crude and semi-purified cell-free extracts of the leaf homogenates of the plant. Detection procedures to quantitate this bioconversion, including one that is novel which uses gcms, are detailed.