The essential oils of five different cultivars of Cannabis sativa contained as main compounds ˛-pinene, myrcene, trans-ˇ-ocimene, ˛-terpinolene, trans-caryophyllene and ˛-humulene. The content of ˛- terpinolene divided the cultivars in two distinct groups, an Eastern European group of cultivars of approximately 8% and a French group of cultivars of around 16%. Therefore, this compound might be suitable as a genetic marker for the two breeding centres for the fibre types of Cannabis sativa. The content of trans-caryophyllene was up to 19%. However, the content of caryophyllene oxide did not exceed 2%. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Cannabis sativa can be regarded as modest. Nevertheless, cultivar differences were visible. -9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) could not be detected in any of the essential oils and the amount of other cannabinoids was very poor
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