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RESEARCH

Research

Peer-reviewed literature on landrace cannabis, each paper recorded with its authors, venue and source. Coverage spans genomics, chemotype and terroir studies, ethnobotany and the policy research that shapes conservation: 79 papers indexed, published from 1972, filterable below by discipline, type, country, year and venue.

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Morocco · Rif Mountains

Terroir-driven phenolic chemotypes and antioxidant/antimicrobial activities of Beldia (Cannabis sativa L.) seed extracts

Oumayma Boussetta, Oussama Khibech, Abdessadek Essadek, Shehdeh Jodeh, Meryem Idrissi Yahyaoui, Abdeslam Asehraou, Chin-Hung Lai, Mohammed Ramdani

Journal of Cannabis Research · 2026

Compares the phenolic composition of defatted seed extracts from the Moroccan Beldia landrace collected at three localities in the Rif: Ketama, Taounate and Ouazzane. HPLC-DAD profiling separated the localities, with Ouazzane samples highest in total phenolics and flavonoids, Ketama samples showing the strongest DPPH radical scavenging and Taounate samples shifted towards vanillic acid against a general dominance of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. The authors attribute the variation to Moroccan terroir. The study concerns seed chemistry rather than resin, so it does not speak to hashish composition. Its three localities correspond to documented Rif growing areas and it sits alongside the other Moroccan terroir records in this corpus.

Screening Diverse Cannabis sativa Germplasm for Resistance to Golovinomyces ambrosiae

Lucia Vignale, Jocelyn A. Schwartz, Zachary Stansell, Tyler Gordon, Christine D. Smart, Lawrence B. Smart

Plant Disease · 2026

Screens between 70 and 98 Cannabis sativa entries for resistance to Golovinomyces ambrosiae, the cause of powdery mildew, over two growing seasons. The panel combines accessions from the USDA-ARS germplasm repository with breeding lines and commercial cultivars spanning different geographic origins. Several entries showed consistently low disease severity across both years. The authors present the data as broadening the public phenotypic record available to users of germplasm collections.

Cannabis Sativa, religion and society: Historical, medicinal, legal, and sacramental perspectives

Norman Nyazema, Jo Nel

Acta Theologica · 2026

Traces the origins and cultural diffusion of Cannabis sativa, its introduction to Southern Africa and its historical medicinal use, alongside the history of its criminalisation and its place in several religious traditions. The article takes sacramental and legal framings together and complements the Southern African historical records already in this corpus.

South Africa

Value capture in the emerging medical cannabis global value chain: insights from South Africa

Andrew Bowman

International Journal of Drug Policy · 2026

Analyses the legal medical Cannabis global value chain in South Africa through 34 semi-structured interviews conducted between 2021 and 2024 with cultivators, brokers, consultants and civil society. Cultivators reported regulatory complexity, intensifying competition, imbalances in bargaining power and quality conventions requiring both artisanal sensory character and pharmaceutical rigour. The author argues that barriers to entry and the capital cost of upgrading push suppliers towards commoditisation and price volatility. The conclusion is that medical Cannabis export is unlikely to serve as inclusive development for small-scale growers in the Global South without substantial policy support.

Iran

Sex chromosome-aware GWAS reveals XY-linked agronomic architecture and breeding targets in cannabis

Mehdi Babaei, Davoud Torkamaneh

bioRxiv · 2026

Reports a sex-chromosome-aware genome-wide association study in Cannabis, adding the X and Y chromosomes to the panel of 145 Iranian landrace accessions. Sixteen genome-wide significant markers were identified, among them X-linked loci for stem biomass and growth rate and Y-linked loci for male morphology and male-specific flowering time. The work is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. It analyses the same landrace collection as the other records from this programme.

Seed Compositional Profiling of 21 Industrial Hemp Varieties and Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Wild and Cultivated Cannabis sativa L. Genotypes

Kusum Raj Tamang, Brian P. Mooney, Thomas P. Mawhinney, Joshua Asiamah, Swastika Sharma, Shreesha Padyana, Christian Carson, Prabesh Koirala, Sakina Mahdi, Babu Valliyodan

Journal of Proteome Research · 2026

Profiles seed composition across 21 industrial hemp varieties and compares the seed proteomes of wild, cultivated dual-purpose and fibre-type Cannabis sativa genotypes. Between 240 and 648 proteins were differentially expressed depending on the comparison, most of them downregulated in cultivated material relative to wild. The result gives molecular evidence of proteomic divergence associated with domestication.

Ghana

Opinions of Illicit Cannabis Growers on the Industrial Legalization of Cannabis in Ghana: An Exploratory Qualitative Study

Joyce Mawufemor Dovlo, Samuel Tweneboa Agyei, Festus Dwomoh, Emmanuel Manu

Substance Use: Research and Treatment · 2026

Reports interviews with 14 unlicensed Cannabis growers in Hohoe Municipality on Ghana's move towards industrial legalisation. Participants raised licensing costs, police harassment and the case for decentralised and subsidised licensing. The study records cultivator perspectives on a legalisation process while it was under way.

Ethnopharmacological Uses of Cannabis in the Arabic-Islamic Golden Age from the IXth to the XVIth Century CE

Ghizlane Merzouki, Fatima Zahrae Redouan, Joaquin Molero Mesa, Abdenbi Bendriss, Walid Elfalleh, Abderrahmane Merzouki

Journal of Ethnobiology · 2026

Surveys the documented uses of Cannabis in Arabic medical manuscripts and treatises from the ninth to the sixteenth century. The authors record applications across endocrine, nervous, respiratory, digestive and dermatological complaints, drawn from seeds, leaves, roots and inflorescences. These uses are set against the cultural and religious framing of the plant in the period. The record extends historical coverage into the Arabic pharmacopoeia, a tradition not otherwise represented in this corpus.

Ghana

Cannabinoid-Based Classification of Ghanaian Cannabis for Regulatory and Commercial Applications

Edward Bentil, Isaac Ayensu, Joseph Adu, John Addotey, Brian Eckenrode

Research Square · 2026

Quantifies THC, CBD and CBN by HPLC-DAD in 12 farm samples from two Ghanaian production regions together with seized material. Most farm-grown samples exceeded the 0.3 per cent THC threshold proposed for industrial hemp. The authors also report that composition tracked plant type more closely than geographic origin. The work is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Its threshold finding bears on which existing growers a hemp category would admit.

South Africa

Entrepreneurial Leadership and Cannabis Entrepreneurship in South Africa: Insights From the Cannabis Master Plan and SMME Performance Literature

Mutshidza Kingsley Muenda, Mulalo Rejoyce Maumela, Livhuwani Gladys Nkondo

International Journal of Applied Research in Business and Management · 2026

Combines interviews with 16 Cannabis entrepreneurs and small-enterprise performance data from the Vhembe District of Limpopo to examine who can take part in South Africa's National Cannabis Master Plan. The authors describe what they call a cannabis divide, in which licensing fees of R25,000 and infrastructure costs above R6 million place formal participation beyond rural growers. It documents the exclusion of established cultivators from a legal framework and complements the other South African policy records in this corpus.

South Africa

Exploring Indigenous knowledge on cultivation, uses and morphological differences of Cannabis landraces in South Africa

Vuyisile Valencia Ndlangamandla, Adeola Salawu-Rotimi, Vuyiswa Sylvia Bushula-Njah, Gugu Fortunate Sibandze, Nompilo Lucia Hlongwane, Fikisiwe Cynthia Gebashe, Nokuthula Peace Mchunu

Systems Ethnopharmacology and Sustainable Bioresources · 2026

Reports an ethnobotanical survey of 95 Cannabis growers across four South African provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, carried out between November 2023 and November 2024. Ninety-seven per cent of growers recognised distinct landraces and 25 colloquial names were recorded, among them Swazi, Local and Insangu. Field observation of height, leaf traits, scent and flower colour grouped the named landraces into two clusters irrespective of where they were collected or what they were called locally. Thirty-eight per cent of participants reported selling mainly to recreational users and one per cent reported traditional ritual use. The authors conclude that growers' naming does not reliably track morphological or genetic diversity and that morphology alone cannot capture it. The record documents vernacular landrace nomenclature for the South African material covered elsewhere in this corpus.

An X-linked sex determination mechanism in cannabis and hop

Sarah B. Carey, Philip C. Bentz, John T. Lovell, Laramie M. Akozbek, Zachary A. Myers, Walid Korani, Joshua S. Havill, Lillian Padgitt-Cobb, Ryan C. Lynch, Nicholas Allsing, Jack Mangels, Zachary Stansell, George M. Stack, Tyler Gordon, Austin Osmanski, Katherine A. Easterling, Leonardo R. Orozco, Zach E. Marcus, Haley Hale, Hannah McCoy, Zachary Meharg, Jane Grimwood, Lawrence B. Smart, Daniela Vergara, Rafael F. Guerrero, Nolan C. Kane, Rich Fletcher, John K. McKay, Todd P. Michael, Gary J. Muehlbauer, Josh Clevenger, Alex Harkess

Nature Communications · 2026

Presents phased sex-chromosome assemblies for Cannabis sativa and Humulus lupulus and dates the origin of their shared XY pair to roughly 36 million years ago, before the two genera diverged. The Y chromosome is heavily degenerated and carries no clear sex-determining gene. The authors instead attribute female inflorescence fate to an X-linked homologue of aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase, placing the ethylene pathway at the centre of the mechanism. The finding bears directly on the treatment of sex determination and dioecy in Cannabis.

South Africa

Chemical Characterization and Biological Potential of the Essential Oils from the Flowers of Two Cannabis sativa L. Cultivars from Komga, South Africa

Anwuli E. Odieka, Ayodeji O. Oriola, Gugulethu M. Miya, Pallab Kar, Opeoluwa O. Oyedeji, Mavuto M. Gondwe, Yiseyon S. Hosu, Thami Madliwa, Adebola O. Oyedeji

Molecules · 2026

Characterises the essential oils of two Cannabis sativa cultivars grown at Komga in the Eastern Cape by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and assays their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. The cultivars are Lifter and Cherrywine, commercial material rather than indigenous Eastern Cape landraces, so the study documents chemistry at a South African growing locality rather than of a traditional variety.

China

Cannabinoids and Terpenoids in Hemp Inflorescence and Leaves of Three Varieties in Yunnan China

Xi Jiang, Youxi Cai, YaJun Teng, XiaoLei Li

Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry · 2026

Profiles cannabinoids by liquid chromatography and terpenoids by headspace SPME gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in the inflorescence and leaves of three registered Yunnan hemp cultivars, Yunma 7, Yunma 8 and Yunma 10. The series showed an inverse relationship between THC and CBDA together with cultivar-specific terpene profiles, all three remaining below the 0.3 per cent THC threshold. The material is registered industrial cultivars rather than landraces, so it documents regional cultivar chemistry rather than traditional germplasm.

Iran

Integrating temporal morphophysiological and genomic markers for precise classification of flowering time in cannabis

Mehdi Babaei, Hossein Nemati, Hossein Arouiee, Davoud Torkamaneh

Scientific Reports · 2026

Classifies flowering time across 25 Iranian Cannabis landrace populations, 145 accessions in total, by integrating temporal morphophysiological measurement with genomic and environmental data. Machine-learning integration of 234,002 features separated autoflowering from photoperiod-sensitive material and identified validated markers at CsFTL3 and CsCFL1. The panel is the same Iranian landrace collection behind the record of Babaei and Torkamaneh's trait-architecture study, which this analysis extends to flowering time specifically.

A near-complete, haplotype-resolved telomere-to-telomere genome assembly of Cannabis sativa reveals complex higher-order repetitive structures

Yang Ni, Chang Zhang, Jingling Li, Wuwei Wu, Guoan Shen, Yangqin Xie, Chi Song, Chang Liu

Plant Communications · 2026

Reports a near-complete haplotype-resolved telomere-to-telomere assembly of Cannabis sativa, characterising telomeric, subtelomeric and centromeric regions. The authors describe extensive higher-order repetitive structures and substantial structural variation between the two haplotypes. The assembly is offered as a resource for work on chromosome architecture and genome evolution.

Iran

Genetic architecture of phenological, morphological, and phytochemical traits in Cannabis landraces

Mehdi Babaei, Davoud Torkamaneh

The Plant Genome · 2026

Genome-wide association study of 145 Iranian Cannabis sativa landrace accessions, male and female, genotyped at roughly 233,000 common SNPs. The analysis resolves the collection into three genetically distinct subpopulations shaped by geography, climate and traditional cultivation, and identifies 91 genomic regions associated with 40 phenological, morphological and phytochemical traits, including 15 pleiotropic loci linked to flowering time, plant architecture, biomass accumulation and cannabinoid biosynthesis. The authors report high heritability for most traits and rapid linkage disequilibrium decay, and present the panel as a resource for high-resolution mapping and marker-assisted selection towards cultivars with tailored cannabinoid profiles. A population-scale genetic-architecture reference for the Iran gene pool, complementing the earlier Mostafaei Dehnavi et al. 2025 population-genomics study of Iranian Cannabis.

Unraveling the Confusion of Flowering Types and Terminology in Cannabis sativa

Madigan Eckels; Royal Heins; Bruce Bugbee

HortScience (American Society for Horticultural Science) · 2026

Perspective/review arguing that cannabis “flowering” terminology is inconsistent across research and industry, which leads to misclassification of photoperiodic behavior and reproductive structures. Proposes clearer categories for female reproductive development (pistillate flowering) and distinguishes multiple male flowering expressions, with descriptive examples and photos to standardize usage across controlled-environment and field contexts.

South Africa

Effect of Propagation Techniques on Growth, Development, Oil Yield, and Quality of Medicinal Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) Found in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Azile Dumani, Tembakazi Theodora Silwana, Ifeanyi Moses Egbichi, Adebola Omowunmi Oyedeji, Babalwa Mpambani, Hlabana Alfred Seepe

Horticulturae · 2025

Tests propagation techniques and their effect on growth, oil yield and quality of the Lusikisiki medicinal cannabis material, extending the Dumani Eastern Cape survey into agronomy.

Indonesia · Aceh

Profiling of various dry Cannabis sativa from Aceh, Indonesia, based on cannabinoids spectroscopy characteristics

Supiyani Supiyani, Sarah Salsabil, Alya Mumtazah, Alya Syakira

Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences · 2025

Forensic profiling of five dried Cannabis sativa samples seized in Aceh province, one each from Aceh Besar, Aceh Tengah, Bireuen, Lhokseumawe and Pidie Jaya, using microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and GC-MS. The authors identified ten cannabinoids, with delta-9-THC dominant in every sample; reported THC values range from 28.90% (Aceh Tengah) to 57.48% (Aceh Besar), a spread the authors attribute to environmental factors. The accessible text does not state whether the percentages are by dry weight or relative abundance among detected cannabinoids. Sampling is confined to Aceh; no North Sumatra material was analysed.

Morocco

A comparative phytocannabinoid profiling of resin from five hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) cultivars from central-northern Morocco

Ismail El Bakali, Nysrine Mannani, Taha El Kamli, Samir El Bakali, Aboubakr Boutahar, Soufian Chakkour, Mohamed Bakha

Food Chemistry Advances · 2025

A chemotype study comparing resin from the local Moroccan cultivar the authors call Beldiya with four introduced cultivars, sampled over the 2014 to 2016 harvests in central and northern Morocco and analysed by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Thirteen cannabinoids were identified, five of them at mean concentrations above five per cent, and the cultivars fell into three chemical groups. The authors report that the local cultivar alone held a stable profile across all three harvest years while the introduced cultivars varied from year to year. Directly relevant to the record on Moroccan local varieties, since it puts a chemical measure on what distinguishes retained local material from imported hybrid stock.

South Africa

Cannabis sativa in South Africa: history, legislation, production, and pharmacological aspects

Michaela Mouton, Minja Gerber, Robert Verpoorte, Frank van der Kooy

Phytochemistry Reviews · 2025

A review of Cannabis sativa in South Africa covering history, legislation, production and pharmacological aspects, synthesising the national picture.

Domesticated cannabinoid synthases amid a wild mosaic cannabis pangenome

Ryan C. Lynch, Lillian K. Padgitt-Cobb, Andrea R. Garfinkel, Brian J. Knaus, Nolan T. Hartwick, Nicholas Allsing, Anthony Aylward, Philip C. Bentz, Sarah B. Carey, Allen Mamerto, Justine K. Kitony, Kelly Colt, Emily R. Murray, Tiffany Duong, Heidi I. Chen, Aaron Trippe, Alex Harkess, Seth Crawford, Kelly Vining, Todd P. Michael

Nature · 2025

The first comprehensive cannabis pangenome, built from 193 genomes (181 new PacBio assemblies plus 12 previously published) representing 144 biological samples spanning use types, history, sex expression and agronomic traits. Includes 78 haplotype-resolved chromosome-scale assemblies and 103 contig-level assemblies covering both male (XY) and female (XX) plants. Documents surprisingly high genetic and structural variation for a single species and proposes a new population structure and hybridisation history. Resolves the heteromorphic X and Y sex chromosomes for the first time, including a variable boundary at the sex-determining and pseudoautosomal regions and male-biased expression of several flowering regulators. Finds that the cannabinoid synthase loci (CBDAS, THCAS) themselves carry very little diversity despite sitting in a region rich in pseudogenised paralogues, structural variation and distinct transposable element arrangements, evidence that the synthases have been recently domesticated against an otherwise wild-mosaic genomic background. Identifies acyl-lipid thioesterase variants associated with fatty acid chain length and with the production of the rarer propyl cannabinoids THCV and CBDV. Confirms that high-CBD hemp lineages such as CBDRx emerged through introgression of the CBDAS locus into a predominantly drug-type genetic background. Concludes that the Cannabis sativa gene pool remains only partly characterised, that wild relatives likely persist in Asia, and that the crop's broader potential is largely unrealised. Provides the new reference framework for placing landrace genotypes in a global population context and underwrites the conservation case that elite modern cultivars have lost diversity that landraces and wild-growing populations still hold.

Integrating target capture with whole genome sequencing of recent and natural history collections to explain the phylogeography of wild-growing and cultivated cannabis

Manica Balant, Daniel Vitales, Zhiqiang Wang, Zoltán Barina, Lin Fu, Tiangang Gao, Teresa Garnatje, Airy Gras, Muhammad Q. Hayat, Marine Oganesian, Jaume Pellicer, Alireza S. Salami, Alexey P. Seregin, Nina Stepanyan-Gandilyan, Nusrat Sultana, Shagdar Tsooj, Magsar Urgamal, Joan Vallès, Robin van Velzen, Lisa Pokorny

Plants, People, Planet · 2025

Global phylogeographic study using a Hyb-Seq approach that combines target capture (with the universal Angiosperms353 enrichment panel) and shotgun whole-genome sequencing on the same data, applied to wild-growing accessions, cultivars and herbarium specimens drawn from natural history collections. Phylogenomic and population genomic workflows on the integrated dataset support treating Cannabis as a monotypic genus and recover three main genetic groups: East Asia, Paleotropis, and Boreal. Paleotropis is further divided into Iranian Plateau, Central and South China–Himalayas, and Indoafrica subgroups. Boreal is divided into Eurosiberia–West Mongolia and Caucasus–Mediterranean subgroups. The strongest signal in the data is geographic rather than use-type, with cultivars clustering by region of origin rather than by hemp/drug distinction. Iranian and Central Asian wild-growing populations emerge as particularly distinctive and morphogenetically diverse, consistent with the idea that this region functions as a genetic melting pot. The study is the first global landrace-inclusive phylogeography of cannabis after Ren et al. 2021 and is methodologically significant for showing that herbarium specimens (including older natural history collections) can be integrated with fresh material to recover phylogenetic signal in a genus where field sampling is legally difficult. Provides the geographic backbone against which any landrace genotype on the wiki can be situated, complements the Lynch et al. 2025 pangenome at the population scale, and supports the conservation case that wild-growing populations from understudied regions hold diversity not represented in modern cultivars.

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Contributing to Research

Research indexes the peer-reviewed and grey literature that documents landrace cannabis populations, their genetics, chemistry, cultivation and governance. One record per paper.

1. Create a Research Item page
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Every field must match the canonical record. A DOI alone is not enough.

3. Summarise, do not argue
State what the paper reports and attribute its claims to it.

4. Anchor it to a place
Add Country and Growing Region when the paper studies a named population.

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