Abstract Description

Research on Cannabis sativa has experienced a surge in recent years driven by changes in the legal landscape and its potential medicinal and economic value. Cultivated for several centuries, South Africa is home to endemic landrace strains that are reputed for their distinct phenotypic characteristics; however, the public scientific record on this remains sparse. We report the metabolomic profiling of more than 20 South African C. sativa landrace cultivars from the Eastern Cape, in comparison to hybrid and drug type cultivars grown locally. Gas Chromatography Electron Impact Mass Spectrometry (GC-EI-MS), Ultraviolet High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UV-HPLC) and Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were used to analyse the tested cultivars indicating a distinct conservation among terpene and cannabinoid profiles in South African landrace Cannabis, highlighting their unique value by resolving metabolic signatures and distinguishing them from strains historically originating from other geographical regions.