Volatile Analysis of Terpenes and Cannabinoids for the Geographical Sourcing of Marijuana

This study aimed to differentiate multiple marijuana samples from a variety of regions based on the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in their odor profile.
Marijuana has a very complex chemical odor profile composed of hundreds of different VOCs, which can be generally divided into two main groups: cannabinoids and terpenes. Terpenes are fragrant compounds commonly produced by plants and fruits and are frequently considered to be distinctive in odor. Cannabinoids are highly lipophilic, semi-volatile components and are not easily observed in the VOC profile. The amount and intensity of terpene compounds in the odor profile can be affected by several genetic and environmental factors of the plant. Thus, it is theorized that, it is possible to classify different marijuana specimen according to their origin.
In this work, solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) with gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with multivariate statistical analyses was used for the discrimination of the odor profiles of marijuana samples based the geographical growing location. An untargeted-targeted strategy was chosen because of the complexity of the marijuana odor profile. Results demonstrated disparity between marijuana odor profiles based on growing location. With this information, it may be possible to determine specific biomarkers that are common between samples and develop a targeted analysis for differentiation. Moreover, this work expands on the foundation already established in SPME-GC-MS research regarding the differentiation of similar-like substances of forensic and agricultural interest such as hemp and marijuana or distinct varieties of foodstuffs.