Artemisia princeps Pamp. - Asteraceae - ヨモギ yomogi (jap.), 魁蒿 kui hao (chin.), Japanese mugwort, Japanischer Beifuß

Perennial herb, up to 1.2m tall, native to China, Korea and Japan; leaves pinnatipartite, leaflets ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, densely arachnoid tomentose abaxially; flowers buff colored. efloras.org

„Leaves and young seedlings can be eaten raw or cooked. They can also be used in salads and soups after removal of the bitterness. The young leaves can be lightly boiled before being pounded and added to glutinous rice dumplings known as mochi to which they give a pleasant colour, aroma and flavour.“ wikipedia

„Kusa mochi (草餅, lit. „herb mochi“), also known as yomogi mochi (蓬餅), is a Japanese confection. It is made from mochi and leaves of yomogi (Japanese mugwort). The leaves are kneaded into the mochi, giving it a vivid green color. The greenness depends on the amount of Japanese mugwort blended in the mochi.“ wikipedia

„Extracts from leaves of Japanese mugwort (Artemisia princeps Pamp.) were obtained using two methods:  steam distillation under reduced pressure followed by dichloromethane extraction (DRP) and simultaneous purging and extraction (SPSE)… The major volatile constituents of the extract by DRP were borneol (10.27 ppm), α-thujone (3.49 ppm), artemisia alcohol (2.17 ppm), verbenone (1.85 ppm), yomogi alcohol (1.50 ppm), and germacren-4-ol (1.43 ppm). The major volatile constituents of the extract by SPSE were 1,8-cineole (8.12 ppm), artemisia acetate (4.22 ppm), α-thujone (3.20 ppm), β-caryophyllene (2.39 ppm), bornyl acetate (2.05 ppm), borneol (1.80 ppm), and trans-β-farnesene (1.78 ppm).“
[Volatile chemicals identified in extracts from leaves of Japanese mugwort (Artemisia princeps Pamp.)., Umano, K., Hagi, Y., Nakahara, K., Shoji, A., Shibamoto, T., Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, Vol.48(8), 2000, 3463-3469]

Artemisia princeps is a fundamental ingredient of the Japanese confection “kusa-mochi”. It has also been used in Korean Folk Medicine for the treatment of inflammation, diarrhoea and many circulatory disorders.
[The Artemisia L. genus: a review of bioactive essential oils., Abad, M J., Bedoya, L.M., Apaza, L., Bermejo, P., Molecules, Vol.17(3), 2012, 2542-2566] PDF

Young leaves of Artemisia princeps orientalis (Korean mugwort) are consumed for flavorings in rice cake, soup, tea, and other beverages due to its characteristic aroma in Korea. Main components of an SDE extract were β-caryophyllene (11.2%), phenylacetaldehyde (10.6%), β-thujone (6.8%), germacrene D (5.3%), and 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol; 3.3%). Compounds of SDE and HS-SPME extracts with high FD factor were e.g. methional (cooked potato; FD 7), phenylacetaldehyde (hyacinth,floral; FD 7), (Z)-3-Hexenal (green, apple-like; FD 5), 1,8-cineol (camphoraceous, minty; FD 4), (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber-like, green; FD 4), myrcene (camphoraceous, metallic; FD 6), 1-octene-3-ol (nutty, mushroom-like; FD 4), ethyl 2-methylpropanoate (sweet,banana; FD 2), methyl 3-methylbutanoate (sweet, and banana; FD 3), methylethyl butanoate (fragrant, pear-like, FD4), ethyl 2-methylbutanoate (cherry- and brandy-like; FD 3).
[Choi, Ji Young, et al. „Aroma-active compounds of korean mugwort (Artemisia princeps orientalis).“ Journal of the Korean Society for Applied Biological Chemistry 57.3 (2014): 323-329]

Artemisia princeps, Orto Botanico di Brera (Milano) Institut für Pflanzenbiologie, Technische Universität Braunschweig