Context : The observed dynamical mass-to-light ( M / L ) ratios of globular clusters ( GCs ) are systematically lower than the value expected from ‘ canonical ’ simple stellar population models , which do not account for dynamical effects such as the preferential loss of low-mass stars due to energy equipartition .
It was recently shown that low-mass star depletion can qualitatively explain this discrepancy for globular clusters in several galaxies .

Aims : To verify whether low-mass star depletion is indeed the driving mechanism behind the M / L decrease , we aim to predict the M / L _ { V } ratios of individual GCs for which orbital parameters and dynamical V -band mass-to-light ratios M / L _ { V } are known .
There is a sample of 24 Galactic GCs for which this is possible .

Methods : We use the SPACE cluster models , which include dynamical dissolution , low-mass star depletion , stellar evolution , stellar remnants and various metallicities .
We derive the dissolution timescales due to two-body relaxation and disc shocking from the orbital parameters of our GC sample and use these to predict the M / L _ { V } ratios of the individual GCs .
To verify our findings , we also predict the slopes of their low-mass stellar mass functions .

Results : The computed dissolution timescales are in good agreement with earlier empirical studies .
The predicted M / L _ { V } are in 1 \sigma agreement with the observations for 12 out of 24 GCs .
The discrepancy for the other GCs probably arises because our predictions give global M / L ratios , while the observations represent extrapolated central values that are different from global ones in case of mass segregation and a long dissolution timescale .
GCs in our sample which likely have dissimilar global and central M / L ratios can be excluded by imposing limits on the dissolution timescale and King parameter .
For the remaining GCs , the observed and predicted average M / L _ { V } are 78 ^ { +9 } _ { -11 } % and 78 \pm 2 % of the canonically expected values , while for the entire sample the values are 74 ^ { +6 } _ { -7 } % and 85 \pm 1 % .
The predicted correlation between the slope of the low-mass stellar mass function and M / L _ { V } drop is found to be qualitatively consistent with observed mass function slopes .

Conclusions : The dissolution timescales of Galactic GCs are such that the \sim 20 % gap between canonically expected and observed M / L _ { V } ratios is bridged by accounting for the preferential loss of low-mass stars , also when considering individual clusters .
It is concluded that the variation of M / L ratio due to dissolution and low-mass star depletion is a plausible explanation for the discrepancy between the observed and canonically expected M / L ratios of GCs .