Abstract Isolation of the essential oil from Artemisia herba-alba collected in the North Sahara desert has been conducted by hydrodistillation (HD) and a microwave distillation process (MD). The chemical composition of the two oils was investigated by GC and GC/MS. In total, 94 constituents were identified. The main components were camphor (49.3 and 48.1% in HD and MD oils, respectively), 1,8-cineole (13.4â12.4%), borneol (7.3â7.1%), pinocarvone (5.6â5.5%), camphene (4.9â4.5%) and chrysanthenone (3.2â3.3%). In comparison with HD, MD allows one to obtain an oil in a very short time, with similar yields, comparable qualities and a substantial savings of energy.