In this study, 120 bioecotype seeds of Artemisia annua were collected from different sites in Iran. In order to characterize elite Artemisia annua bioecotypes with high artemisinin producibility, the bioecotypes were analyzed via the HPLC method. Among the 120 bioecotypes collected, 5 bioecotypes (S4, M9, Gu17, M33 and M47) did not have any artemisinin content, while 12 bioecotypes (Gu3, Gu5, Gu7, Gu19, M26, M29, M35, M36, M41, M43, M51 and M53) had higher artemisinin than other bioecotypes. From 53 bioecotypes available in the province of Mazandaran, 35 bioecotypes had more than 0.4% artemisinin and thus were high artemisinin. Also, bioecotypes collected from moderate and rainfall provinces of Iran (Mazandaran and Guilan) had highest mean of the artemisinin content (9.56±8.02 mg/1 g of plant and 7.65±8.06 mg/1 g of plant, respectively) among 7 provinces. Thus, climate conditions affect on the growth and development of the Artemisia annua plants and the expression level of artemisinin in Artemisia plants. Also, bioecotype Gu5 of Artemisia annua can be an ideal choice for industrial production of this medicine because it contained the highest artemisinin level (about 30 mg/1 g of plant) among all bioecotypes studied.
