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Wormwood
Caution🐾Wermut · (Artemisia absinthium)
Daisy family (Asteraceae)
Description
Wormwood is a silvery, hairy sub-shrub of the daisy family and ranks among the most bitter of all medicinal plants. It grows to just under a metre, favours dry, stony ground and is recognisable by the fine white felt on its leaves and stems; the flower heads in mid-summer are inconspicuous, yellow and nodding. The flowering shoot tips and herb are gathered at flowering time. Its extreme bitterness comes from the compound absinthin — even a heavily diluted solution tastes distinctly bitter; the essential oil contains thujone. Wormwood is traditionally used as a stomach bitter for temporary loss of appetite and mild gastrointestinal complaints; the European Medicines Agency lists it as a traditional herbal medicinal product, that is, on the basis of long experience rather than clinical trials. Because thujone is a nerve toxin in higher doses, wormwood preparations should not be overdosed or taken for longer than two weeks at a stretch — a caution rooted in the history of absinthe.
CONTRAINDICATED during pregnancy
Do not use. Wormwood is considered to stimulate uterine contractions, and thujone is a nerve toxin.
CONTRAINDICATED during breastfeeding
Do not use. Data on the passage of thujone into breast milk are lacking; with a nerve toxin that is reason enough.
CONTRAINDICATED for children
The EMA authorises wormwood medicines for adults only.
Critical drug interactions with:
Krampflösende Mittel (Antiepileptika)
Taken as a bitter tea from the dried flowering herb shortly before meals to stimulate appetite and digestion. The bitter taste is not incidental but the mechanism: through the taste receptors it triggers the production of saliva and gastric juice. Sweetening the tea takes exactly that away. The EMA lists this use for adults and only for temporary complaints.
Preparation & dosage
Pour 150 ml of boiling water over about half a teaspoon of dried herb, steep covered for five to ten minutes, strain and drink unsweetened half an hour before the meal.
- Dry amount
- 1–1.5 g
- Doses per day
- 3×
- Max duration
- 2 weeks
⚠ Age restriction: ≥ 18 years — The EMA authorises wormwood medicines expressly for adults only.
Sources: [3]
An alcoholic extract (wormwood tincture), taken drop-wise in water as a concentrated digestive bitter for poor appetite and dyspeptic complaints. The tincture is considerably stronger than the tea — the figures on the pack are not a recommendation here but a limit. If complaints persist beyond two weeks they need medical assessment.
Sources: [3]
Traditionally used to flavour bitter liqueurs and vermouth wine and as a digestive aperitif. The name vermouth derives from the German word Wermut. Absinthe, the notorious spirit of the 19th century, was made with it too; the nerve damage attributed to it is today thought to stem mainly from the high alcohol content rather than from thujone alone. In the EU the thujone content of spirits is capped.
Sources: [1]
Contains the neurotoxin thujone in its essential oil; do not exceed recommended doses and do not use continuously for more than two weeks. According to the EMA, for adults only. Avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding and in children (it can stimulate uterine contractions and is potentially toxic). High-concentration wormwood oils or excessive absinthe consumption can cause seizures and nerve damage. If complaints persist after two weeks, seek medical assessment.
⏱ Max continuous use: 2 weeks
Do not use. Wormwood is considered to stimulate uterine contractions, and thujone is a nerve toxin.
Do not use. Data on the passage of thujone into breast milk are lacking; with a nerve toxin that is reason enough.
The EMA authorises wormwood medicines for adults only.
Drug interactions
Krampflösende Mittel (Antiepileptika)
Thujone can trigger seizures and thereby work against the treatment. Wormwood is inadvisable in epilepsy.
Magensäurehemmer (Protonenpumpenhemmer, H2-Blocker)
Bitter compounds stimulate gastric juice production — exactly what these medicines are meant to suppress. The effects work against each other.
Contraindications
- Hypersensitivity to wormwood or other daisy-family plants (chamomile, mugwort, arnica, marigold).
- Bile duct obstruction and inflammation of the bile ducts.
- Liver disease.
- Gastric and duodenal ulcers — bitter compounds increase acid production.
- Epilepsy and a history of seizures.
Harvested part: Flowering shoot tips and herb, gathered at flowering time in mid to late summer
- Time of day:
- At the start of flowering, on a dry morning once the dew has gone. Cut only the top twenty to thirty centimetres and leave the woody lower part standing.
- Drying:
- Hang in loose bunches upside down in the shade, airy and at no more than 35 °C. Warmer than that and the essential oil is lost. The herb is dry when the stems snap rather than bend.
- Storage:
- 12 months — Dark and airtight, kept apart from other herbs — wormwood passes its smell on to its neighbours.
- Thujone (α- and β-thujone)Essential oilAerial parts
Main component of the essential oil and a neurotoxin; responsible for the use restrictions. The content varies widely with origin and harvest time.
- AbsinthinBitterAerial parts
An intensely bitter sesquiterpene-lactone bitter principle that gives wormwood its extremely bitter taste. It is water-soluble and passes into the tea — the thujone largely stays in the oil.
- AnabsinthinBitterAerial parts
A further sesquiterpene-lactone bitter compound contributing to the appetite-stimulating effect.
- Flavonoide (z. B. Artemetin)FlavonoidAerial parts
Plant flavonoids with antioxidant properties.
- ChamazulenEssential oilAerial parts
Formed only during steam distillation and colouring the oil blue — the same compound as in chamomile oil.
- GerbstoffeTanninAerial parts
- [3]MonographEuropean Union herbal monograph on Artemisia absinthium L., herba – EMA/HMPC(accessed: 2026-08-20)
- [4]MonographCliniTox Giftpflanzen — Artemisia absinthium L.: giftig + (Institut für Veterinärpharmakologie und -toxikologie, Universität Zürich)(accessed: 2026-08-10)
- [1]WikipediaWermutkraut – Wikipedia(accessed: 2026-06-24)
- [2]WikipediaArtemisia absinthium – Wikipedia(accessed: 2026-06-24)