evaluation of anti-malarial activity of artemisia turcomanica and a. kopetdaghensis by cell-free β-hematin formation assay

background and objectives:the plants of genus artemisia (asteraceae) have been conventionally used for prevention and medication of a number of ailments. in the present research, ten extracts with different polarities from aerial parts of two artemisia species, a. kopetdaghensis and a. turcomanica were evaluated for their potential anti-malarial properties. methods: the plant materials were extracted successively with petroleum ether (pe), dichloromethane (dcm), ethyl acetate (etoac), ethanol, and ethanol-water (1:1 v/v)  by cold maceration method. cell free β-hematin formation assay were used for assessing anti-malarial activity of obtained extracts. results: dcm extract of a. kopetdaghensis and pe extract of a. turcomanica showed remarkable anti-malarial activity with ic50 values of 1.04±0.02 mg/ml and 0.90±0.27 mg/ml, respectively, compared to positive control (chloroquine, ic50 0.04±0.01 mg/ml). conclusion:  it seems that the anti-malarial activity of these extracts might be bound up with the presence of compounds with low or medium polarity; hence, this preliminary test indicated that these potent extracts could be considered for further investigations to find new sources of anti-malarial phytochemicals.