This paper presents a review on the cultivation of white genepi (Artemisia umbelliformis), a plant mainly used in liquor production for the aromatic and bitter compounds found in the floral stems, and points out two very important aspects: harvest stage and environmental conditions. In previous studies, the incidence of the phenological stage at harvest on the yield and the quality of the floral stems of white genepi cultivar ‘RAC 12’ was very high. The yield doubled between the beginning and the end of the flowering period, reaching up to 0.1 kg of dry weight per m2. Harvesting from full flowering onwards resulted in higher yields. On the contrary, the contents of essential oil and of costunolide in the flower stems drastically decreased between the beginning and the end of flowering. However, no significant variation in the chemical profile of the essential oil was observed in relation to the harvesting stages. Harvesting of white genepi at the beginning of flowering is therefore recommended to guarantee a high quality product. The optimal environment to cultivate genepi is on sandy soils (>60% sand of the soil texture) and at high altitudes (1200-1600 m in middle Europe). On sandy soils, the plant mortality turned out to be lower, and consequently the yields were higher compared to soils with a high percentage of clay and silt. High altitudes are therefore recommended, mainly because of increasing the yield and the profitableness of the crop.
