| Summary: | The essential oil (EO) of Artemisia plants contains a large number of bioactive compounds that are widely used. The aim of this study was to analyse the chemical composition of EOs of six Artemisia plants collected in Croatia and to test their cholinesterase inhibitory potential. GC–MS analysis of the EO of <i>A. absinthium</i> showed that the dominant compounds are <i>cis</i>-sabinyl acetate and <i>cis</i>-epoxy-ocimene; in EO of <i>A. abrotanum</i>, it is borneol; in the EO of <i>A. annua</i>, they are artemisia ketone, camphor and 1,8-cineole; in the EO of <i>A. arborescens</i>, they are camphor and chamazulene; in the EO of <i>A. verlotiorum</i>, they are <i>cis</i>-thujone, 1,8-cineole and <i>trans</i>-thujone; and in the EO of <i>A. vulgaris</i>, they are <i>trans</i>-thujone and <i>trans</i>-epoxy-ocimene. The EO of the five studied Artemisia species from Croatia is rich in monoterpenoid compounds (1,8-cineole, artemisia ketone, <i>cis</i>-thujone, <i>trans</i>-thujone, <i>cis</i>-epoxy-ocimene, camphor, borneol and <i>cis</i>-sabinyl acetate). The EO of <i>A. arborescens</i> is also rich in chamazulene. The results also showed that the tested EOs have moderate cholinesterase inhibition potential, especially the EOs of <i>A. annua, A. vulgaris</i> and <i>A. abrotanum</i>. This is the first analysis of the chemical composition of the EOs of four <i>Artemisia</i> plants and the first analysis of cholinesterase potential for plants collected in Croatia.
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