INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS SOLVENTS ON THE POLYPHENOLIC COMPOSITION OF EXTRACTS FROM CANNABIS SATIVA L. AND CANNABIS INDICA PLANTS

The extraction ability of different solvents and their mixtures with water is nvestigated towards the qualitative and quantitative polyphenolic composition extracted from the plants Cannabis Sativa L. and Cannabis Indica and it is determined by HPLC - DAD technique. Extraction is carried out by the maceration method, and the effect of following solvents is compared: 96 % ethanol, 80 % ethanol (aq.), 50 % ethanol (aq.), dichloromethane, acetone, 80 % acetone (aq.) and 50 % acetone (aq.). The results derived reveal that acetone/water mixture (1:1) can extractthe largest number of polyphenols from Cannabis Sativa L. - epigallocatechin, rutin, myricetin and kaempferol, as first three of them present in the largest amounts, compared to the other solvents. It is worth noting that ethanol/water mixtures (80:20 and 50:50) both extract three of the studied polyphenols from Cannabis Sativa L. Considering the polyphenolic content in Cannabis Indica extracts, it is found out only ethanol/water (1:1) extracts the largest number of polyphenols - epigallocatechin, rutin, myricetin and quercetin, as the amount of all these is the largest, compared to the other solvents. Another ethanol/water mixture (80:20) is also quite effective in extracting the traced compounds, since three polyphenols - rutin, myricetin and quercetin are identified.