Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Cannabis sativa L. 'Futura 75' Essential Oil: Effect of the Distillation Time.

In the last decades, there is an increasing interest in the cultivation of industrial hemp, Cannabis sativa L. with low content of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychotropic agent, due to its use in different field, among them food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry [1]. In particular, have been investigated C. sativa extracts with high content of cannabidiol (CBD), that is a molecule showing different pharmacological activities, including an antitumoral action [2]. At the same time, characterization studies of the hemp essential oil (EO) were conducted and its antioxidant and antimicrobial activity was shown [3,4,5]. The aim of this work was to explore the effect of the distillation time on the chemical composition and the antioxidant properties of the EOs obtained by steam distillation from C. sativa cv. Futura 75, cultivated in the Abruzzo Region. Dried inflorescence, provided by a local farm and preserved in vacuum bags until distillation, were subjected to steam distillation at two, four and six hours, affording EOs with 0,13%, 0,16% and 0,26% yield, respectively. The chemical composition of the obtained EOs was determined by GC-MS analysis, and was compared with the volatile fraction composition of dried inflorescences matrix, carried out by solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to GC-MS technique. EOs at different time contain the same main compounds, but with different relative abundance. The EOs were evaluated for the total phenolic content (TPC) by Folin-Ciocâlteu method, and for the antioxidant activity (AOC) by TEAC/ABTS, FRAP and DPPH assays. EOs distilled at more time showed higher yield, TPC and AOC, with four and six hours more similar to each other, and more performing than two hours one.