Quantitative Analysis of Cannabinoids in the Secretory Product from Capitate-Stalked Glands of Cannabis sativa L. (Cannabaceae)

Abstract

Capitate-stalked glandular trichomes from pistillate bracts of Cannabis sativa L. were analyzed to determine the cannabinoid composition of secretory products within the secretory sac. Analyses were performed on cloned materials of a strain characteristically high in cannabidiol. The secretory product is accumulated in a single large secretory sac, which develops above a multicellular disk of secretory cells during gland ontogeny. The content of the secretory sac was removed with micropipets, using a micromanipulator without damaging or removing disk cells or their contents, and analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography. The cannabinoid content of the secretory sac was compared with previously quantitated cannabinoids of whole capitate-stalked glands. Results indicated that nearly all of the cannabinoid content of capitate-stalked glands was present in the secretory sac.