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 (13.4-12.4%), borneol (7.3-7.1%), pinocarvone (5.6-5.5%), camphene (4.9-4.5%) and chrysanthenone (3.2-3.3%). 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.