Which climate produces the strongest weed with the highest THC and CBD levels?

The cannabis plant contains around 450 chemical components including terpenes, phenols, fatty acids, amino acids, hydrocarbons, carbohydrates, etc. The two main classes of these are terpenoids and cannabinoids. Numerous cannabis plant varieties contain more than 104 cannabinoids. However, the most notable examples are plants used as medicines, particularly 9-THC and 9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (9-THCA). Conversely, fibrous plants are known to contain mainly cannabinoid acids, such as cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), and their decarboxylated forms, such as canna (CBG) and cannabidiol (CBD).

The popular cannabinoids CBD and THC are the decarboxylation end products of CBDA and THCA, respectively. These cannabinoids have become very popular thanks to their psychoactive effects and medicinal benefits. To better understand these cannabinoids, Turkish researchers studied the cannabinoid content of different cannabis strains grown in different climates under different supercritical extraction conditions.

To identify the variations, they studied plants from four different geographical areas in Turkey and performed extractions at two different pressures and temperatures. According to the Turkish researchers, the new study results are the first to show how different climatic conditions affect the yield of CBD and THC in different cannabis strains.

About the study

Before planting, the researchers collected four different cannabis seeds. Three of them are quite popular, but the last is the first national and native seed variety known as “Narl”. Two Sami are from Konya: Papatya and Elnur. the others; are Gökçeaaç from Ankara and Narl from Samsun. At the end of 2019, Narl was officially registered.

The seedlings were cultivated in four different climate regions in Konya, Turkey. The seeds were planted on the appointed days in the Konya regions of Umra (June 18, 2019), Altnekin (June 13, 2019), Beyşehir (June 14, 2019) and Meram (June 18, 2019).

The central area is Meram. Due to higher urbanization, this region has the highest average annual temperature. Due to urbanization, the humidity is also lower compared to other places. Beyşehir has high humidity and low temperatures as it has one of the largest lakes in Turkey. The district experiences the most annual rainfall because of the lake.

The areas with the most significant agricultural areas are far from the city in the Altnekin and Umra regions, which have moderate temperatures but significant humidity. In general, each region experiences a different influence of humidity and temperature on local conditions.

Harvesting took place 93 days after planting the plants in Altnekin region, 96 days after planting in both Beyşehir and Meram regions, and 104 days after planting in Umra region. Depending on the location, the harvested plants were kept in a greenhouse without direct sunlight. The tops and bottoms of the plants were rotated at intervals during drying to avoid burning the plant and were aired constantly to inhibit mold growth.

Researchers hand-picked the cannabis plants to ensure careful separation of the leaves from their stems. Until the samples reached milling conditions, the water content of the leaves was determined using the Karl Fischer method. Using the Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) method, the flow rate of CO2 was maintained at 100 g/min. At the same time, various extraction parameters (temperature, pressure and co-solvent influence) were examined for their impact on the extraction yield and composition.

result of the study

The Papatya species grown in the Altnekin region had the highest THC content (90.82%) among the different cannabis strains grown in the different areas and extracted under SFE-verified conditions. This strain produces 3.71% CBD. The papatya species grown in Altnekin has the second highest THC output in the dry cannabis plant (5.41%), behind only the papatya strain grown in Beyşehir (6.14%).

Compared to other strains, the Elnur strain grown in Beyşehir has the second highest THC ratio (58.22%). This strain has a CBD concentration of 3.29%. The yield of dry cannabis plant extract is 4.14%. The Elnur strain, also grown in the Altnekin region, has a THC content of 53.76 percent and a CBD content of 2.59%. Papatya species (CBD 2.25% and THC 52.16%) grown in Beyşehir region was the fourth-ranked strain in terms of yield of SFE-extracted strains according to HPLC analysis. With a yield of 6.14%, the papatya variety of dry cannabis plant grown in the Beyşehir area has the largest yield.

When ranked by yield, the top four strains are two Papatya strains and two Elnur strains. Beyşehir and Altnekin are the top two growing regions and come in the first four regions. Comparing the locations in terms of their meteorological conditions, the researchers found that during the 2019 planting season, Beyşehir had the most precipitation (1690 mm), and the Altnekin region took second place (1070 mm). These two locations are also the wettest regions as measured by humidity metric (59.11% and 59.93%, respectively). In terms of temperature, they are among the less dry locations (13.49 °C and 13.42 °C).

Cannabis can adapt to a variety of climate conditions. It is a plant that has spread from a warm temperature zone to a subtropical climate zone. While the cannabis plant has a high need for rain before planting, it can grow quickly in wet and dry climates when irrigated. High humidity and dry conditions also speed up the growth of cannabis plants. From this point of view, the two regions (Altnekin and Beyşehir) with the highest yield among the growing areas best meet this criterion. Research is consistent on the link between climate and outcomes.

Conclusion

This study included the SFE of four cannabis plant strains grown in four different climate zones. The highest yields of CBD and THC were obtained under conditions of 33 MPa, 40 °C and 2.0 wt% ethanol as co-solvent for 2 hours. The property that appeared to affect extraction yield the most was pressure.

It was also discovered that the cannabis grown in areas with higher relative humidity, lower temperatures and more rainfall had higher yields. Although this work emphasizes the subject to some extent, more research is needed with cannabis strains grown in different geographic locations under different pressure and temperature levels to fully understand and perfect the extraction yield for SFE.

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