Systematische Falschinformationen über Thujon in historischem Absinth
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CONTRIBUTORS:
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CONFERENCE NAME:
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CONF. LOCATION:
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Mosbach (Baden), Germany
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CONFERENCE YEAR:
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2007
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PUB TYPE:
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Conference Presentation
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SUBJECT(S):
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absinthe, thujone, Artemisia absinthium L., wormwood, public misinformation
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DISCIPLINE:
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Chemistry
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HTTP:
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http://www.gtfch.org
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LANGUAGE:
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German
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PUB ID:
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103-433-944
(Last edited on
2007/04/19 04:42:37 GMT-6)
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SPONSOR(S):
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ABSTRACT:
Objectives: The media coverage about absinthe, a bitter spirit containing wormwood (Artemisia absinthium L.), continues to repeat unsubstantiated myths and legends and the public is systematically misinformed. Especially, the theory about a significant thujone content in absinthe must be put into perspective as there are a number of different wormwood chemotypes with a large variance in thujone content (0-70.6% in essential oil). However, a relatively high thujone amount of 260 mg/l derived from out-of-date calculations is generally presented as “historical content” in addition with reports about unsubstantiated psychoactive or aphrodisiac properties. With the end of absinthe’s prohibition and rising public interest in the product, the misinformation in scientific studies was transferred to the popular press. The 260 mg/l is presented as common knowledge, and it is given as fact that the thujone content in the mid-nineteenth century was significantly greater than it is today.
Methods: The thujone concentrations in pre-ban absinthe were calculated using authentic 19th century French recipes under regard of the composition of wormwood oil derived by a literature review.
Results: A typical Absinthe Suisse de Pontarlier was calculated to have contained 22±26 mg/l of thujone. It was, therefore, proven that the previous calculations overestimated the thujone content.
Discussion: The following point about the thujone content of pre-ban absinthe should be stressed: there are no analyses from the 19th century because neither knowledge about thujone nor the required analytical methodologies were in existence. Therefore, so-called “historical thujone contents” are either speculative or derived from calculations using historic recipe books, experimental production of absinthes using such recipes, or analyses of vintage absinthes. The most conclusive evidence is provided by a number of studies about the experimental production of absinthes, and the analyses of vintage absinthes, which consistently showed that they contained only relatively low concentrations of thujone (< 10 mg/l).
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