Cannabis sativa L. - Botany and Biotechnology

productive stage (Fig.17.9). The leaves of male tetraploid plants had lower content
of THC, but the ones of female plants showed no difference. The CBD levels in the
male and femaleflowers of tetraploid plants did not show significant differences
compared with diploid plants (Fig.17.9). In reproductive leaves of female tetra-
ploid plants, CBD content significantly increased compared with the reproductive
leaves of diploid plants. The CBD was similar in the leaves of male tetraploid and
diploid plants (Fig.17.9). Secondary metabolites may be reduced due to the sup-
pression of some genes in polyploidy level. The morphological study revealed that
the number of trichomes in tetraploid plants was reduced and that could be the
reason for the decline on cannabinoids in this plant. Terpenoids content of essential
oil increased inCarium carvi(Dijkstra and Speckmann 1980 ). However, in some
plant polyploidy induction decreased secondary metabolite content like our result
(Dhawan and Lavania 1996 ).
The total protein content in leaves of mixoploid plants showed the greatest
increase in comparison with tetraploid and diploid plants. The amount of protein in

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0.5

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1.5

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2 x 4 x

THC (mg g

-1

DW)

male flower

female flower

male leaf

femle leaf

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0

10

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60

70

80

2 x 4 x

CBD (mg g

-1

DW)

male flower

female flower

male leaf

female leaf

Plaidylevel

(a)

(b)

Fig. 17.9 Effect of ploidy
levels on THC and CBD
content in the leaf andflower
of Cannabis

17 Induction of Polyploidy and Its Effect onCannabis sativaL. 379