مشخصات پژوهش

Cannabis sativa is a good source of tetrahydrocannabinol (Cho, Ryu et al. 2024). Tetrahydrocannabinol, known in the pharmaceutical field as dronabinol, is approved in the United States as a capsule or solution for the relief of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and anorexia caused by HIV/AIDS (Sera and Hempel-Sanderoff 2025, Valizadeh, Veenhuis et al. 2025). The aim of this research is to extract and purify tetrahydrocannabinol from Cannabis sativa using solid phase extraction technique. This method has distinct advantages compared to extraction methods using organic and aqueous solvents alone. The extracted solvent was neutralized with 1N hydrochloric acid and separated using ethyl acetate using a rotary device until a viscous mixture was formed. One gram of silica gel was added to this mixture and transferred to a 20 cm high silica gel column and another half gram of silica gel was added on top. Then, the column was washed using a mixture of ethyl acetate and petroleum ether in a ratio of 1 to 20. TLC showed the desired tetrahydrocannabinol spots. The resulting solution was left alone and after 24 hours, the crystalline precipitate was separated using filter paper and stored in a dark container for identification steps. The tetrahydrocannabinol was identified using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.