## 4 Discussions
absinthium_ L. collection influenced the total polyphenolic content of the extract, according to [PERSON] et al. [57]. The maximal value of TPC was 99.89 \(\pm\) 3.30 mg GAE/g dried weight, obtained with vegetal material collected from Kairouan region. In the other regions, the TPC (expressed as mg GAE/g dried weight) had lower values, such as 83.70 \(\pm\) 1.31 in Bou Salem, 72.05 \(\pm\) 1.83 in Boukornine and 49.39 \(\pm\) 2.20 in Jerissa. A total phenolic content of 194 \(\pm\) 9.7 mg gallic acid equivalent/g extract was reported by [PERSON] et al. [58] for _Artemisia absinthium_ L. The extract was prepared using the aerial parts of the plants collected from Iran and methanol as extracting agent. The value reported for the TPC by [PERSON] et al. is similar to our results (193.61 \(\pm\) 2.36 mg GAE/g dry extract). In addition, [PERSON] and [PERSON] presented in their work a value of TPC of 123 \(\pm\) 0.82 mg GA equivalents per gram of extract, for _A. absinthium_ (methanolic extract); the extract was made from aerial parts and was procured from Himalaya Herbs Stores, India [59]. Therefore, from all the results presented above it is noticeable that the TPC is influenced by factors like the nature of the extracting agent, the region of the plant collection, the part of the plant used. The highest TPC was obtained for the wormwood extract, followed by the tarragon and then by the sweet wormwood ethanolic extract. The TPC established in our work for the three _Artemisia_ extracts indicates important polyphenolic content of the dry medicinal products available on the market in Romania, being comparable to literature data. Investigating the free radical scavenging capacity of the three extracts in a concentration range from 50 to 1000 \(\upmu\)g/mL, our results indicated important antioxidant activities. Extracts in concentrations as high as 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL had comparable AOA% with ascorbic acid (50 \(\upmu\)g/mL) used as standard antioxidant agent. For higher concentrations, the antioxidant activities reached values over 90%, in a dose-related manner for all three species. [PERSON] et al. [60] investigated the properties of _Artemisia annua_ L. extracts obtained using different extractants such as water, 80% methanol, 80% ethanol and 80% acetone by the DPPH radical scavenging method. In the study conducted by [PERSON], the antioxidant activity at a concentration of 0.6 mg/mL ethanolic extract was 57.0 \(\pm\) 1%, slightly lower than 77.71 \(\pm\) 1.94% obtained by us for a concentration of 500 \(\upmu\)g/mL (0.5 mg/mL). Aracunculus_ leaves and infloresence in a methanolic extract, used in the work of [PERSON] and [PERSON] showed similar DPPH (%) values for the leaves and infloresence extracts (86.43 \(\pm\) 0.15% and 92.03 \(\pm\) 0.11%, respectively) [61]. Lower values were obtained for _A. absinthhium_ extract prepared from leaves and stems using ethanol 80% as extractant; for a concentration of 1.4 mg/mL the leaves extract had 49.47 \(\pm\) 0.015% and the stem extract had 56.84 \(\pm\) 0.026% inhibition [19]. The most numerous studies regarding the three species consider their terpenoid-rich composition; however, their antioxidant effects were moderate. However, the extracts in polar solvents from plant products of the three species of _Artemisia_ have been investigated, regarding the antioxidant effect. Studies have shown that the most concentrated compounds in tarragon are phenolic acids, especially gallic acid, synaptic acid, syringe acid, and the strong antioxidant activity can be accounted for by the high number of hydroxyl groups and the presence of type 2-carboxyl groups [61]. Wormwood is more concentrated in flavonoids next to phenolic acids, and values obtained in other studies indicate an antioxidant potential similar to sweet wormwood or tarragon [62]. Sweet wormwood is studied in most cases due to the presence of the sesquiterpene lactone artemisinin.