The content of basic cannabinoids and their mutual ratios in Cannabis sativa L. plant

Abstract

Cannabinoids are typical chemical ingredients of a Cannabis sativa L. plant. The main psychoactive ingredient of this plant is Δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, whose content mostly determines the strength or potential of a cannabis product. In addition to this ingredient, the forensic analysis also includes determination of the presence and content of cannabidiol and cannabinol. Over the last couple of decades, there have been changes in chemical composition of cannabis products in many countries, and they manifest through the increase of total psychoactive potential. Monitoring of basic cannabinoids content and their mutual ratios, processed in this paper, has shown that there is a growing number of samples with high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, while the cannabidiol (CBD) content is very low or is not present in samples at all. The THC/CBD ratio also confirms changes in plant chemotype in terms of increasing total psychoactive potential of a cannabis plant.

Categorization of Marijuana Suspected Policies’ Seizures in Southeast Serbia According to Cannabinoids Content

“…During the past few decades, reports on the concentration of THC and CBD in MSPS have shown the tendency of THC to increase on account of the CBD decrease (thus an elevated THC/CBD ratio) in Europe, the USA, Australia, and, regarding the Balkan region, in the Republic of Srpska [35][36][37][38][39]. To obtain marijuana strains with high psychoactive properties (i.e., a high THC concentration), several premises of its cultivation and growing should be considered: the genus and type of cannabis (for instance, THC is higher in sinsemilla-female marijuana plants) or selective breeding of specific cannabis strains with a high THC/low CBD level; furthermore, the controlled conditions of cannabis cultivation and growing (temperature, light, humidity, and type of soil) in the indoor and outdoor environment influence the level of THC in the cannabis plant.…”

“…Dragoljic et al concluded that with time, the proportion of high-potency samples (THC > 10%) increases while the proportion of low-potency samples (THC 2%) decreases, leading to an overall increase in the average annual potential of the samples of seized cannabis plant material [35].…”

“…For the reliable interpretation and evaluation of the obtained analytical results of THC and CBN contents and CBN/THC ratio in MSPS, the following information is essential: the time of harvesting and the condition of marijuana product storage before and after confiscation by the police. Time elapsed from MSPS confiscation is not decisive for evaluating MSPS age, as Dragoljic et al [35] stated. According to the CBN/THC ratio, we were able to classify the samples with regard to their age (Figure 1).…”