Quantitative Determination of Δ9-THC, CBG, CBD, Their Acid Precursors and Five Other Neutral Cannabinoids by UHPLC-UV-MS.
Yan-Hong Wang, Bharathi Avula, Mahmoud A. Elsohly, Mohamed M Radwan, Mei Wang, Amira S Wanas, Zlatko Mehmedic, Ikhlas A Khan
Planta Medica March 2018 DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-124873 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Analytical method development and validation Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 32 |
| Population | Cannabis sativa samples including hashish, leaves, and flower buds |
| Topics | Cannabis CBD |
| Key points | The validated ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatographic method baseline separated 11 cannabinoids, with limits of detection below 0.2 µg/mL and limits of quantitation below 0.5 µg/mL. Precision relative standard deviation was below 2.4%, and recovery ranged from 97% to 105%. The method was successfully applied to 32 Cannabis samples. |
Abstract
Cannabinoids are a group of terpenophenolic compounds in the medicinal plant Cannabis sativa (Cannabaceae family). Cannabigerolic acid, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A, cannabidiolic acid, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabigerol, cannabidiol, cannabichromene, and tetrahydrocannabivarin are major metabolites in the classification of different strains of C. sativa. Degradation or artifact cannabinoids cannabinol, cannabicyclol, and Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol are formed under the influence of heat and light during processing and storage of the plant sample. An ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatographic method coupled with photodiode array and single quadruple mass spectrometry detectors was developed and validated for quantitative determination of 11 cannabinoids in different C. sativa samples. Compounds 1: - 11: were baseline separated with an acetonitrile (with 0.05% formic acid) and water (with 0.05% formic acid) gradient at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min on a Waters Cortec UPLC C18 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm I. D., 1.6 µm). The limits of detection and limits of quantitation of the 11 cannabinoids were below 0.2 and 0.5 µg/mL, respectively. The relative standard deviation for the precision test was below 2.4%. A mixture of acetonitrile and methanol (80 : 20, v/v) was proven to be the best solvent system for the sample preparation. The recovery of all analytes was in the range of 97 - 105%. A total of 32 Cannabis samples including hashish, leaves, and flower buds were analyzed.