Artemisia argyi Raw Material & Plant Part
The botanical name is Artemisia argyi H.Lév. & Vaniot, family Asteraceae, known as Chinese mugwort, silvery wormwood or ai ye. The raw material is the dried leaf, harvested from the plant in late spring or summer, dried and milled. Roots, stems and flower heads are not included.
The genus Artemisia is large, and several of its members share a common name. Artemisia vulgaris is the European common mugwort, Artemisia annua is sweet wormwood, and Artemisia absinthium is wormwood, which is higher in thujone and has a different regulatory status. They are separate plants, and the species name decides what the powder is. The Japanese yomogi, Artemisia princeps, is a close relative used in the same way as ai ye in spring rice cakes.
Chinese mugwort leaves are known for volatile oil with cineole, for polymethoxylated flavones such as eupatilin and jaceosidin, and for chlorogenic-type phenolic acids. The underside of the leaf carries a dense layer of silvery-white hairs, which gives the fresh leaf its two-tone look and also keeps fine fibers in the milled powder.
In Chinese cooking the leaf is used as a natural green colorant and aroma in seasonal rice cakes and dumplings, which is the flavor and color profile this powder serves in dry form.
Leaves are harvested in late spring when the plant is lush and the aroma is high, then dried quickly in shade or low heat to hold the green color. Later cuts give a coarser, more bitter leaf, so harvest time influences the aroma and bitterness of the mugwort leaf powder.
