The Essential Oil of 'bhang' (Cannabis sativa L.) for Non-Narcotic Applications

Cannabis sativa L. (family Cannabaceae) is a medicinal and aromatic plant growing all over the world. The present study aims to investigate the essential oil composition and antimicrobial activity of C. sativa from the foothills of northern India. The hydrodistilled essential oil of C. sativa was studied by capillary gas chromatography/flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and evaluated against nine pathogenic bacterial strains using disc diffusion assay. A total of 57 constituents representing 90.5-93.1% of the total oil compositions were identified. Major constituents of the essential oil were (E)-caryophyllene (19.6-26.1%), limonene (4.1-15.8%), caryophyllene oxide (2.0-10.7%), (E)-β -farnesene (4.8-8.5%), α-humulene (5.4-7.8%), β-pinene (0.7-7.7%), myrcene (0.8-6.0%), terpinolene (0.2-6.0%) and β -selinene (1.8-5.4%). The oil showed moderate to good activity against most of the tested Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC2940), Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC96) and Streptococcus mutans). The oil also showed moderate activity against a Gram-negative bacterium, Salmonella typhimurium. The chemical composition of the examined C. sativa essential oil was quite different from earlier reported compositions. The oil possessed moderate to good activity against most of the tested bacterial strains.