Kingdom: Plantae (plants)
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta (vascular plants)
Superdivision: Spermatophyta (seed plants)
Division: Magnoliophyta (flowering plants)
Class: Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons)
Subclass: Hamamelididae
Order: Urticales
Family: Cannabaceae
Genus: CannabisCannabisis known by different common names in different languages.Arabic: Al-Bhango; Al-Hashish; Al-Qanaap
Chinese: Xian ma; ye ma
Danish: Hemp
Dutch Hennep
English: Hemp; marihuana
French: Chanvre; chanvre d’Inde; chanvre indien; chanvrier; chanvrier
German: German: Hanf; Haschisch; indischer Hanf
Indian: Bhang; charas; ganja
Japanese: Mashinin
Portuguese: Canhamo; maconha
Russian: Kannabis sativa
Spanish: Mariguana; marijuanaCannabisis divided mainly into three phenotypes: phenotype I (drug-type), with
D^9 -Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) >0.5% and cannabidiol (CBD) <0.5%; phenotype
II (intermediate type), with CBD as the major cannabinoid but with THC also
present at various concentrations; and phenotype III (fiber-type or hemp), with
especially low THC content (Fig.3.1). Representative typical chemical profiles of a
drug type,fiber type and intermediate type plants are shown in Fig.3.2. Hemp
usually contains non-psychoactive cannabinoids as major constituents, e.g. CBD or
cannabigerol (CBG) (De Backer et al. 2009 ; Galal et al. 2009 ). Although, envi-
ronmental factors play a role in the amount of cannabinoids present in different
parts of the plant at different growth stages (Bocsa et al. 1997 ), the distribution of
CBD:THC ratios in most populations are under genetic control (De Meijer et al.
2003 ). Different types indexes are used to classifyCannabis: [THC + CBN]/
CBD > 1 indicates drug type, while a ratio <1 indicates non-drug orfiber-type
(index I); THC > CBD indicates drug-type, while THC <1% and CBD > THC
indicates fiber-type (index II); and THC/CBD or CBN/CBD > 1 indicates
drug-type, while THC/CBD and CBN/CBD < 1 indicatesfiber type (index III)
(Lopes de Oliveira et al. 2008 ; Stefanidou et al. 1998 ; Ross et al. 2000 ).
3 Cannabis sativaL.: Botany and Horticulture 81