Evaluating the antimicrobial activity, antioxidant potential and GC-MS based chemical characterization of Cannabis sativa found in Pakistan

Introduction: Cannabis is a dioecious plant belonging to the family Cannabaecae.Objective: The present work was conducted to study the antimicrobial activity, antioxidant potential andGC-MS-based metabolite profiling of Cannabis.Methods: The antimicrobial activity of Cannabis extract was assessed through disc-diffusion method. Theanti-oxidant potential of CEO was checked through DPPH assay and FRAP assay. We also assessed the totalphenolic (TPC) and flavonoid content (TFC) of the extract. The phytocompounds present in the Cannabisextract were characterized by using GC-MS.Results: The antimicrobial assay revealed significant activity against Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aureusand Klebsiella pneumoniae, whereas moderate antioxidant activity was shown by Cannabis extract, having76.54% inhibition in DPPH assay and 56.10% inhibition in FRAP assay. TPC and TFC were 26.77 mg GAE/gD.E. and 34.45 mg QE/g D.W, respectively. The chemical characterization of Cannabis extract by GC-MSshows the presence of cannabinoids, terpenes, aliphatic compounds, alkanes and sesquiterpenes.