The chemical composition of the fatty acids in twenty four different samples of cannabis seeds was determined by gas liquid chromatography with flame ionization detector and coupled with a mass spectrometer. The identification of twenty fatty acids was based on comparison with authentic samples. In addition six other components were detected in some samples and shown to be oxygenated acids. The data showed that the seeds could be divided broadly into two groups, one with saturated and unsaturated fatty acids averaging 9.5±1.7% and 89.4±1.9% respectively, and the other with averages of 60.1±4.1% and 21.9±6.1% of the respective fatty acids. Examination of the effect of seed maturity on the fatty acid composition showed that the more mature the seeds are, the higher is the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids and the lower the percentage of saturated ones. Detection of oxygenated low molecular weight acids in the second group could be attributed to ageing. Comparison of the fatty acid composition of seeds of drug and fibre types showed no significant difference among mature seeds. In addition, there was no correlation between the fatty acid composition of the seeds and their geographical origin.
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Ross et al. (1996) studied this question.