Evaluation of factors having an effect on cannabidiol amount in Cannabis sativa L

Industrial hemp is a multipurpose crop, supplying fibers, seeds, and pharmaceuticals. The non-psychotropic cannabidiol (CBD) derived from hemp is a promising pharmaceutical raw material. It shows no psychotropic effects, is not listed in UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, but demanded for the production of medicine products. Regretfully, there are no domestic cultivars of hemp in Russia specialized in phytocannabidiol. Currently, there is a big need in industrial varieties of pharmaceutical specialization (CBD-cultivars). This paper is the first to report on selection of the accessions with high CBD content (above 9 %) and trace amounts of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychotropic cannabinoid, among the studied genotypic diversity of hemp plants. The objective of the study was the assessment of the effects of field watering, lighting conditions, sexual type of plants and stage of ontogenesis on CBD and THC accumulation on a broad in situ genotypic diversity of Cannabis L...