title: Seized cannabis seeds cultivated in greenhouse: A chemical study by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and chemometric analysis.
abstract: Cannabis sativa L. is cultivated in most regions of the world. In 2013, the Brazilian Federal Police (BFP) reported 220 tons of marijuana seized and about 800,000 cannabis plants eradicated. Efforts to eradicate cannabis production may have contributed to the development of a new form of international drug trafficking in Brazil: the sending of cannabis seeds in small amounts to urban centers by logistics postal. This new and increasing panorama of cannabis trafficking in Brazil, encouraged the chemical study of cannabis seeds cultivated in greenhouses by gas-chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) associated with exploratory and discriminant analysis. Fifty cannabis seeds of different varieties and brands, seized by the BFP were cultivated under predefined conditions for a period of 4.5 weeks, 5.5 weeks, 7.5 weeks, 10 weeks and 12 weeks. Aerial parts were analyzed and cannabigerol, cannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabichromene Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other terpenoids were detected. The chromatographic chemical profiles of the samples were significantly different, probably due to different variety, light exposition and age. THC content increased with the age of the plant, however, for other cannabinoids, this correlation was not observed. The chromatograms were plotted in a matrix with 50 rows (samples) and 3886 columns (abundance in a retention time) and submitted to PCA, HCA and PLS-DA after pretreatment (normalization, first derivative and autoscale). The PCA and HCA showed age separation between samples however it was not possible to verify the separation by varieties and brands. The PLS-DA classification provides a satisfactory prediction of plant age.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Laboratório de Análises e Pesquisas Toxicológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 2752 Ipiranga Avenue, Santana, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90610-000, Brazil. Electronic address: krismariotti@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kristiane de Cássia
authors.initials: Kde C
authors.lastname: Mariotti
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Química, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo Caetano Alexandre
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Marcelo
authors.affiliation: Setor Técnico-Científico, Superintendência Regional do Departamento de Polícia Federal no Rio Grande do Sul, 1365 Ipiranga Avenue, Azenha, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90160-093, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rafael S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Laboratório de Análises e Pesquisas Toxicológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 2752 Ipiranga Avenue, Santana, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90610-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruna Tassi
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Borille
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Laboratório de Análises e Pesquisas Toxicológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 2752 Ipiranga Avenue, Santana, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90610-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dos Reis
authors.affiliation: Setor Técnico-Científico, Superintendência Regional do Departamento de Polícia Federal no Rio Grande do Sul, 1365 Ipiranga Avenue, Azenha, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90160-093, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mauro Sander
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Fett
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Química, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco Flôres
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Ferrão
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Laboratório de Análises e Pesquisas Toxicológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 2752 Ipiranga Avenue, Santana, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 90610-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renata Pereira
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Limberger
mesh_terms: D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000032:analysis*; D002188:Cannabis / Q000737:chemistry*; D064423:Drug Trafficking; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002186:Cannabinoids
keywords: Cannabis sativa L.; Chemical profile; Chemometric analysis