Characterisation of cannabis plants phenotypes from illegal cultivations in Crete

In the present study samples of cannabis plants presented to us by the Drug Enforcement Units were characterised, based on the analysis of active substances. The fresh samples were dried in a dark room were they were kept until analysis. The samples included leaves, flowers roots and trunks. The analysis was performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Gas Chromatography (GC) using standard solutions of cannabidiol, D-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, D-8 tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabinol. Chemical analysis of the flowers revealed that 80% of the plants were classified as resinous phenotype while the remaining 20% were found to be of the textile phenotype (low concentration of active cannabinoids). The concentration of D-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in the flowers and leaves ranged from 0.014 to 21.06 mg/g, of cannabinol from 0.0002 to 0.350 mg/g and of cannabidiol from 0.03 to 29.6 mg/g. Roots and trunks contained very small quantities of active substances and should not be used for phenotype identification. No delta-8 THC was detected in any sample. Leaves gave less resinous phenotypes than flowers. The use of either mathematical formula, A or B produced the same phenotype character for each separate part of the plant.