Metals and organic compounds in the biosynthesis of cannabinoids: a chemometric approach to the analysis of Cannabis sativa samples

Illicit production and trade of Cannabis sativa affect many societies. This drug is the most popular and easy to produce. Important information for the authorities is the production locality and the indicators of a particular production. This work is an attempt to recognise correlations between the metal content in the different parts of C. sativa L., in soils where plants were cultivated and the cannabinoids content, as a potential indicator. The organic fraction of the leaves of Cannabis plants was investigated by GC-FID analysis. In addition, the determination of Cu, Fe, Cr, Mn, Zn, Ca and Mg was realised by spectroscopic techniques (FAAS and GFAAS). In this study, numerous correlations between metal content in plants and soil, already confirmed in previous publications, were analysed applying chemometric unsupervised methods, that is, principal component analysis, factor analysis and cluster analysis, in order to highlight their role in the biosynthesis of cannabinoids.