Abstract
Volatile terpenes represent the largest group of Cannabis sativa L. components and they are responsible for its aromatic properties. Even if many studies on C. sativa have been focused on cannabinoids, which are terpenophenolics, little research has been carried out on its volatile terpenic compounds. In the light of all the above, the present work was aimed at the chemical characterization of seventeen essential oils from different fibre-type varieties of C. sativa (industrial hemp or hemp) by means of GC-MS and GC-FID techniques. In total, 71 compounds were identified, and the semi-quantitative analysis revealed that α- and β-pinene, β-myrcene and β-caryophyllene are the major components in all the essential oils analysed. In addition, a GC-MS method was developed here for the first time, and it was applied to quantify cannabinoids in the essential oils. The antibacterial activity of hemp essential oils against some pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms isolated from food and food processing environment was also determined. The inhibitory effects of the essential oils were evaluated by both the agar well diffusion assay and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) evaluation. By using the agar diffusion method and considering the zone of inhibition, it was possible to preliminarily verify the inhibitory activity on most of the examined strains. The results showed a good antibacterial activity of six hemp essential oils against the Gram-positive bacteria, thus suggesting that hemp essential oil can inhibit or reduce bacterial proliferation and it can be a valid support to reduce microorganism contamination, especially in the food processing field.
Highlights
IntroductionScientific research on fibre-type Canabis sativa L. (commonly known as industrial hemp or hemp) has been significantly increasing in recent years [1,2]
Scientific research on fibre-type Canabis sativa L. has been significantly increasing in recent years [1,2]
Volatile compounds in hemp essential oil (EO) were analysed by GC-flame ionization detector (FID) and GC-MS and they were identified according to both their calculated linear retention indexes (LRI) and MS data, which were compared with available data in the literature and MS spectral libraries, respectively
Summary
Scientific research on fibre-type Canabis sativa L. (commonly known as industrial hemp or hemp) has been significantly increasing in recent years [1,2]. The wide pharmacological profile of its non-psychoactive cannabinoids, which belong to the class of terpenophenolics, make them the leading actors of the vast majority of the scientific papers related to this variety [3,4,5,6,7]. Among these compounds, cannabidiol (CBD) represents the most promising one from a pharmaceutical point of view (Figure 1). Together with its homologue recognized as an effective agent [13]
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