Analysis of nitrogen containing compounds, p-coumaroyltyramine and feruloyltyramine, for discrimination of cannabis seeds by HPLC

Abstract

Two peaks corresponding to authentic p-coumaroyltyramine (p-CT) and trans-feruloyltyramine (trans-FT) were detected on the HPLC chromatogram in the extract of cannabis seeds, whereas these peaks were not detected in the extracts of plant seeds of Japanese radish, radish or spinach. A part of trans-FT was converted to a cis-isomer by ultraviolet irradiation. The contents of p-CT and trans-FT were 0.2-1.3 and 5.1-26.8 mg/100 g of the seeds, respectively. These results indicate that the detection of p-CT and trans-FT in plant seeds by HPLC analysis is a useful method for the discrimination of cannabis seeds from other plant seeds.