SOFT 2004 Meeting Abstracts - Society of Forensic Toxicologists

A7S
IDENTIFICATION AND ISOLATION OF FILAMENTOUS FUNGI IN SAMPLES OF
CANNABIS SATIVA L.
S.O.S. Cazenave', C. Darini, M.M.R.S. Soares
Laboratorio de Toxicologia Forense de Campinas, Rua Barao de Parnaiba 322, 1. andar, Centro 13100-000
Campinas, Sao Paulo (Brasil)
Cannabis sativa L. (Marijuana) is considered an illegal drug being widely used mostly by young adults.
The plant dried after harvesting and stored under favorable environment to grow fungi which is spread in
nature. Since literature lacks studies related to filamentous fungi present in Cannabis sativa L... The
objective of this study was to isolate and identify filamentous fungi in samples of Cannabis sativa L...
retained in Campinas area and analyzed in The Laboratory of Forensic Toxicology. Sixty samples were
used divided as follows: 30 samples with evident contamination and 30 without any traces of
contamination. First, 5 grams of sample were macerated in 50 ml of sterile distillated water to isolate the
fungi. Next, samples were filtered and placed in sterile tubes. Volume transferred to sterile Petri dish was
Iml with 15 ml of Sabouraud Dextrose Agar, subsequent homogenizing and after solidification it was
incubated in room temperature for five days. If colony growth was found identification was carried out
with macro and microscopy analysis. Most common species of fungi found were as follows: Aspergillus.
Fusarium, Penicillium and Scapular/apsis. For this reason, Cannabis sativa L. represents a source of fungi
contamination as fungi were found even in samples that were not visibly contaminated. These
mycotoxigenic fungi might cause allergy in hypersensitive individuals, diseases in immune suppressed
patients, or intoxication through ingestion of contaminated samples, therefore presenting a potential risk for
users and toxicologists as well.
Keywords: Fungi, Cannabis sativa, Contamination.
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