Search

Studies with secretory cavity contents and air-dried inflorescence extracts of the CBD-rich hemp strain, Cannabis sativa cv. 'Cherry Wine', were conducted to compare the decarboxylation rates of acidic cannabinoids between two groups. The secretory cavity contents acquired from the capitate-stalked glandular trichomes by glass microcapillaries, and inflorescence samples air-dried for 15 days of storage in darkness at room temperature were analysed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. The ratio of acidic cannabinoids to the total cannabinoids was ranging from 0.5% to 2.4% lower in the air-dried inflorescence samples compared to the secretory cavity samples as follows. In the secretory cavity content, the percentage of acidic cannabinoids to the total cannabinoids was measured as 86.4% cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), 6.5% tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), 4.3% cannabichromenic acid (CBCA), 1.4% cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), and 0.6% cannabidivarinic acid (CBDVA), respectively. In the air-dried inflorescence, however, the acidic cannabinoids were detected with 84% CBDA, 4.8% THCA, 3.3% CBCA, 0.8% CBGA, and 0.3% Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid (Δ 9 -THCVA), respectively. The ratio of cannabidiol (CBD) to cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) was close to 1:99 (w/w) in secretory cavity contents, however, it was roughly 1:20 (w/w) in the air-dried inflorescence. In addition, Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabivarin (Δ 9 -THCV) and Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid (Δ 9 -THCVA) were only detected in the air-dried inflorescence sample, and the ratio of Δ 9 -THCV to Δ 9 -THCVA was about 1:20 (w/w). Besides, cannabidivarinic acid (CBDVA) was only observed in the secretory cavity content., (© 2024. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

Industrial hemp (Cannabis spp.) has many compounds of interest with potential medical benefits. Of these compounds, cannabinoids have come to the center of attention, specifically acidic cannabinoids. The focus is turning toward acidic cannabinoids due to their lack of psychotropic activity. Cannabis plants produce acidic cannabinoids with hemp plants producing low levels of psychotropic cannabinoids. As such, utilization of hemp for acidic cannabinoid extraction would eliminate the need for decarboxylation prior to extraction as a source for the cannabinoids. The use of solvent-based extraction is ideal for obtaining acidic cannabinoids as their solubility in solvents such as supercritical CO2 is limited due to the high pressure and temperature required to reach their solubility constants. An alternative method designed to increase solubility is ultrasonic-assisted extraction. In this protocol, the impact of solvent polarity (acetonitrile 0.46, ethanol 0.65, methanol 0.76, and water 1.00) and concentration (20%, 50%, 70%, 90%, and 100%) on ultrasonic-assisted extraction efficiency has been examined. Results show that water was the least effective and acetonitrile was the most effective solvent examined. Ethanol was further examined since it has the lowest toxicity and is generally regarded as safe (GRAS). Surprisingly, 50% ethanol in water is the most effective ethanol concentration for extracting the highest amount of cannabinoids from hemp. The increase in cannabidiolic acid concentration was 28% when compared to 100% ethanol, and 23% when compared to 100% acetonitrile. While it was determined that 50% ethanol is the most effective concentration for our application, the method has also been demonstrated to be effective with alternative solvents. Consequently, the proposed method is deemed effective and rapid for extracting acidic cannabinoids.

Marijuana, dried and ground Cannabis, is the most consumed illicit drug in the world. Many undesirable and risky effects to human health are caused by its use. The medicinal use or legal recreational use of Cannabis has also been rising in many countries. These facts make traceability methodologies increasingly important whether for forensic use, such as drug trafficking eradication, or for quality control purposes of legal medicinal Cannabis. Consequently, the objective of this study was to analyze Cannabis by means of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in order to assess the capability of this technique to trace the geographical origin of Cannabis cultivated in Colorado, United States of America. TGA appears to be sensitive enough to detect the degradation/decarboxylation of cannabinoids and terpenes, at least to some extent; also, the degradation of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin was indicated. Overall, the temperature ranges we analyzed using linear discriminant analysis showed high accuracies, with the 200 to 300 °C and 600 to 700 °C ranges achieving 100% accuracy., (Copyright © 2021 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. All rights reserved.)