Taking into consideration the incomplete extraction of wormwood during the maceration and distillation stages of absinthe production, the authors calculated that for typical French and Swiss 19th century recipes, the thujone content of absinthe may have ranged around a mean of 17–23 mg/L with large standard deviations of 16–21 mg/L, while the median content may have been around 10–14 mg/L. pontica), and found that the levels of thujone in the plant were overestimated in previously accepted calculations, which were liberally applied in estimating the thujone content of absinthe (3). The authors dealt with these theoretical aspects in a prior study, specifically by conducting a literature review on the composition of wormwood ( A. The problem of the lack of chemical analysis has been compounded by estimations of theoretical thujone content derived from clearly unreliable recipes, from the misinterpreted application of such recipes, or from the overestimation of the initial thujone content of the wormwood plant. make the claim in their paper “Absinthe-Is its history relevant for current public health?” that historic absinthe contained much higher concentrations of thujone than modern commercial offerings (9). Most recently for example, Huisman et al.

Although this figure was not based, by the author’s own admission, upon actual chemical analyses (and in fact the theoretical basis on which it was derived is not completely clear), it has been uncritically quoted dozens of times since and has become for many authors the “conventional wisdom”. (8), which claimed a figure of 260 mg/L as being representative of the thujone concentration in preban absinthe. Of particularly profound influence was a paper by Strang et al. Other authors generally use assumed figures based on theoretical calculations or the analysis of samples from the ‘postban’ era (i.e., the decades that followed the 1915 ban on absinthe production in France). A thorough review of the extensive peer-reviewed literature shows, extraordinarily, only one actual test of a preban absinthe sample by Hutton (7). In other words, it remains to be determined if modern absinthes made from published 19th century recipes are chemically similar to those actually made by the large commercial manufacturers of the preban era. In evaluating the validity of the extensive 19th and early 20th century scientific literature on the deleterious effects of absinthe, and its possible relevance to the public health issues related to modern absinthe (manufactured after its legalization in the European Union (EU) in 1988), a critical variable is the thujone concentration of preban or vintage absinthe. It is certainly at the root of absinthe’s reputation as being more drug than drink. Thujone (β-thujone in particular) is an epileptiform convulsant and is widely regarded as the “active” ingredient in absinthe (5,6). Thujone is a natural essence typically associated with common wormwood ( Artemisia absinthium L.) and Roman wormwood ( Artemisia pontica L.), which are together two of absinthe’s most widely used ingredients, besides green anise ( Pimpinella anisum L.), hyssop ( Hyssopus officinalis L.), lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis L.), and Florence fennel ( Foeniculum vulgare Mill.).

All things considered, nothing besides ethanol was found in the absinthes that was able to explain the syndrome “absinthism”. Analyses of pinocamphone, fenchone, base spirits, copper, and antimony were inconspicuous.

The analysis of postban (1915–1988) and modern commercial absinthes (2003–2006) showed that the encompassed thujone ranges of all absinthes are quite similar, disproving the supposition that a fundamental difference exists between preban and modern absinthes manufactured according to historical recipes. The authors conclude that the thujone concentration of preban absinthe was generally overestimated in the past. The total thujone content of preban absinthe was found to range between 0.5 and 48.3 mg/L, with an average concentration of 25.4 ± 20.3 mg/L and a median concentration of 33.3 mg/L. Thirteen samples of authentic absinthe dating from the preban era (i.e., prior to 1915) were analyzed for parameters that were hypothesized as contributing to the toxicity of the spirit, including naturally occurring herbal essences (thujone, pinocamphone, fenchone), methanol, higher alcohols, copper, and antimony.

Absinthe with thujone