Abstract: Methods of extraction under shaking at constant temperature, postcolumn derivativation, ultraviolet detection and HPLC were used to determine contents of artemisinin in Artemisia annua L. which had been introduced into Heilongjiang Province from different provenances. The results of the study were as follows: the highest artemisinin mass fraction reached about 0.668% in A.annua which was introduced from Youyang (YY-2) to Heilongjiang in 2007,which exhibited the highest medicinal biomass (4014.6+420.0 kg/hm²). Affected mainly by self-provenance, artemisinin content of the indroduced A. annua was decreased. However, it is still up to the purchase standard and possesses a large amount of medicinal biomass. The introduced cultivars have strong adaptability to the environment of Heilongjiang. By planting A. annua, the large uncultivated lands in Heilongjiang can be utilized to obtain remarkable economic benefit without the problem of land competition with traditional crops.

Key words: Artemisia annua L., artemisinin, introduction, provenance