# Yield and Quality of Essential Oils in Hemp Varieties in Different Environments
## 3 Results and discussion
### Characterization of EOs Composition  
As for phytocannabinoids, characterization of EOs was performed in the three environments in 2017: Aviano, Camopoformido and Maiano. A profile of compounds characterizing the EOs obtained by hydrodistillation was identified by GC-MS analysis. In total, about 65 different compounds were identified representing from 93 to 97% of all components present in EOs analyzed (Table 4). Figure 4: Cannabidiol (CBD) content in the inflorescences. Means with the same letter are not significantly different. LSD at 5% level. Bars represent standard error. There were 23 compounds present in all EOs, representing from 78 to 88% of all components. These data were subjected to two factor statistical analysis (ANOVA), in which variety and location were the factors of variation. The ANOVA analysis showed that the components profiles of the EOs tested were influenced exclusively by the factor variety, of which the mean values are shown in Figure 5.  
In all varieties, the sesquiterpenes were higher than monoterpenes (average 33.9%). In particular, sesquiterpenes hydrocarbon concentration fluctuated from 40.8% recorded in Ferimon to 43.9% in Fedora and monoterpenes values ranged between 31.9% in Fedora and 37.4% in Ferimon. On the contrary, in experiments by [PERSON] et al. [27] and [PERSON] et al. [13], the class of compounds present in higher percentages is that of monoterpenes, which reached 55.4% and 64.2%, respectively. The anticipating of the inflorescence harvest time carried out in this experiment, to allow the plants to issue new inflorescences in order to also obtain seed, could explain the differences in terpen profile obtained, which is affected by variety, maturity level of female flowers and percentage of fertilized flowers [28]. As reported in Figure 5, between the EOs common to all varieties, the main compound was cryophilene, a natural bicyclic sesquiterpene, detected with a rather constant concentration between the varieties studied (20.8-21.6%), very close to the mean value (18.8%) obtained by [PERSON] et al. [27] in similar experiments with other varieties. This compound is normally used as food flavoring, and has anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic properties [45]. Other compounds quantitatively relevant and common to all varieties studied were the \(\alpha\)-pinene (10.1-11.5%), a monoterpene with a smell similar to that of pine resin [46] used as food flavoring, solvent and as additive of lubricating oils [47], and humulene (8.7-9.1%), a monocyclic sesquiterpene with anti-inflammatory properties [48]. The three varieties showed a very similar terpene composition, with the exception of Ferimon that had a significantly higher concentration of \(\beta\)-myrcene and trans-\(\beta\)-ocimene than the others (Figure 5). The former is an aliphatic monoterpene synthesized from many plants, particularly from hops (_Humulus lupulus_ L.), used as a solvent, in the preparation of synthetic fragrances, pharmaceuticals, personal  
Figure 5: Relative percentage composition of the main and common constituents of EOs of the three varieties studied, as mean within the environments (1: \(\alpha\)-pinene; 2: \(\beta\)-pinene; 3: \(\beta\)-Myrcene; 4: Eucalyptustol 1,8 Cineol; 5: trans-\(\beta\)-Ocimene; 6: \(\beta\)-Ocimene; 7: Terpinolene; 8: Isocaryophyllene; 9: cis-\(\alpha\)-Bergamotene; 10: Caryophyllene; 11: trans-\(\alpha\)-Bergamotene; 12: cis-\(\beta\)-Farmesene; 13: Humulene; 14: Aromandendrene; 15: \(\alpha\)-Selinene; 16: Selina-3,7(11)-diene; 17: \(\beta\)-Sesquiphellandrene; 18: Caryophyllene oxide; 19: Humulene epoxide II). Bars represent standard error. hygiene products and as food flavoring [49]. While trans-\(\beta\)-ocimene is a monoterpene very widespread in plant species and is one of the components of the pheromones emitted by several insects [48]. EOs terpene profiles of the three different varieties are qualitatively comparable to what was observed by [PERSON] et al.