ABSTRACT:
Habitual abuse of the wormwood spirit absinthe was described in the 19th and 20th century as a cause for the mental disorder “absinthism” including the symptoms hallucinations, sleeplessness, and convulsions. A controversial discussion is going on if thujone, a characteristic component of the essential oil of the wormwood plant Artemisia absinthium L., is responsible for absinthism, or if it was merely caused by chronic alcohol intoxication or by other reasons such as food adulterations. In this work the influence of thujone as cause for absinthism is investigated by analysing vintage products, as well as absinthes produced according to historic recipes.
