| Published Scientific Papers on Thujone |
Systematic Misinformation about Thujone in Pre-ban Absinthe
By Dirk W. Lachenmeier and David Nathan-Maister
Published in Deutsche Lebensmittel-Rundschau, June 2007
By Dirk W. Lachenmeier and David Nathan-Maister
Published in Deutsche Lebensmittel-Rundschau, June 2007
Summary
The media coverage about absinthe, a bitter spirit containing wormwood (Artemisia absinthum 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) from which a mean thujone content of about 20 mg/l in distilled absinthe with a large standard deviation of up to
20 mg/l may be calculated. However, a higher thujone amount of 260 mg/l derived from out-of-date calculations is generally presented
as “historical content” in addition with reports about unsubstantiated psychoactive or aphrodisiac properties. Other studies used
unauthentic recipes with unrealistically high amounts of wormwood that would produce undrinkable bitter products. In general, a
previous overestimation of the thujone content of pre-ban absinthe was detected.
The media coverage about absinthe, a bitter spirit containing wormwood (Artemisia absinthum 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) from which a mean thujone content of about 20 mg/l in distilled absinthe with a large standard deviation of up to
20 mg/l may be calculated. However, a higher thujone amount of 260 mg/l derived from out-of-date calculations is generally presented
as “historical content” in addition with reports about unsubstantiated psychoactive or aphrodisiac properties. Other studies used
unauthentic recipes with unrealistically high amounts of wormwood that would produce undrinkable bitter products. In general, a
previous overestimation of the thujone content of pre-ban absinthe was detected.
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| Update 1st March 2008: Our new facsimile of the Duplais distillation guide, the "Bible" of absinthe distillation, is now available. |
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