# Halophyte _Artemisia caerulescens_ L.: Metabolites from In Vitro Shoots and Wild Plants
## 2 Results and Discussion
### Biochemical Analysis  
The _A. caerulescens_ wild plants were collected during the summer period to obtain different aerial organs (leaves, and young and ripe infloresances). The photosynthetic pigments Chlorophyll a and b (chla 930.03 and chl b 182.27 \(\upmu\)g g\({}^{-1}\) FW, respectively; Table 2) were revealed in amounts that have already been observed for other _Artemisia_ sp. such as _A. pauciflora_, _A. lerchiana_, and _A. santonica_, although they were often referred to in dry weight [12; 26]. In fact, an estimation of the total chlorophyll content of _A. caerulescens_ based on dry material (4.69 mg g\({}^{-1}\) dry weight) is similar to that of _A. santonica_ (4.8 mg g\({}^{-1}\) dry weight) [12]. Inflorescences contained different pigments depending on the flowering stage: the blossoms showed higher chlorophyll content than the ripe ones (376.99 and 231.31 \(\upmu\)g g\({}^{-1}\) FW, respectively). The photosynthetic pigments were evaluated in other _Artemisia_ sp. tolerant to salinity; the _A. absinthium_ young plants grown in salty conditions showed similar values to those of _A. caerulescens_[27]. Other pigments, carotenoids, and anthocyanins were detected and related to antioxidant activity. Leaves of wild plants showed the highest amount of carotenoids (294.09 \(\upmu\)g g\({}^{-1}\) FW), probably associated with the photoprotection activity during the summer period and with tolerance to the salty soil area [28]. The carotenoid content in all the other examined organs was comparable as their values did not exhibit a significant difference. Concerning the anthocyanins, both stages of flowers (young blossom and ripe flowers) showed the highest amount of these secondary metabolites, which are related to the pigmentation of the flowers (Figure 1b), while they were not revealed in the leaves. Interesting results were obtained regarding the polyphenol content of the various examined organs. Both infloresances showed the highest amount, found within the range of 17.15-18.42 mg GAE g\({}^{-1}\) FW, while slightly lower content was observed in fresh wild leaves (4.62 mg). The obtained data on the polyphenic content of wild plants were in agreement with those reported by [PERSON] et al. [29]. The antioxidant activity, detected with two different assays (FRAP or DPPH), was therefore the highest in the flowers of _A. caerulescens_, followed by the leaves. The activity could be linked to the polyphenols, including the anthocyanins, since they work as scavengers of free radicals and as natural metal chelators [30], and to the carotenoids, which have achieved increasing interest in the last decades for their antioxidant properties [31]. On the other hand, the contribution of other antioxidant molecules can be included and further investigated. Biochemical analyses of in vitro shoots were performed and referred to the different culture media. The chlorophyll content (Chl a, Chl b, and total chlorophyll) of shoots was higher in the MS-BA medium (581.04 g g\({}^{-1}\) FW) than in the basal MS medium (275.51 ug g\({}^{-1}\) FW), and this effect was linked to the known influence of BA in chlorophyll production. Regarding the other pigments, carotenoids were higher in the MS-BA than in the MS medium, following the trend of the other photosynthetic pigments. Anthocyanins, belonging to the class of phenolic compounds, were more concentrated in the MS0 medium (1.03 mg ME g\({}^{-1}\) FW) than in MS-BA (0.57 mg ME g\({}^{-1}\) FW). In vitro shoots showed a reasonable polyphenol content (0.63-0.71 mg GAE g\({}^{-1}\) FW), and the antioxidant activities (DPPPH and FRAP assay) were higher in MS0 than in MS-BA (Table 2). Altogether, the contribution of cytokin BA seemed to reduce the production of antioxidant compounds. A similar effect has already been observed in the shoot culture of _Scutellaria alpha_[32] and in the shoot culture of _Artemisia alba_[24], for which the high concentration of BA limited the amount of polyphenol compounds. The initial results obtained on _A.