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For decades, Cannabis sativa had been illegal to sell or consume around the world, including in the United States. However, in light of the recent 2018 Farm Bill and the legalization of hemp across the US, various cannabis preparations have flooded the market, making it essential to be able to quantitate the levels of the different acidic and neutral cannabinoids in C. sativa and to have a complete cannabinoid profile of the different chemovars of the cannabis plant. A GC-FID method was developed and validated for the analysis of 20 acidic and neutral cannabinoids as trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives. The analyzed cannabinoids include cannabidivarinic acid (CBDVA), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), cannabinolic acid (CBNA), cannabielsoic acid (CBEA), cannabicyclolic acid (CBLA), cannabichromenic acid (CBCA), trans -Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid (Δ9-THCVA), trans -Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A (Δ9-THCAA), cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabicyclol (CBL), cannabidivarin (CBDV), trans -Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), cannabichromene (CBC), trans -Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ8-THC), trans -Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabinol (CBN), cannabicitran (CBT), and cannabielsoin (CBE). The method limit of detection (LOD) was as low as 0.1 µg/mL, while the limit of quantitation ranged from 0.25 µg/mL to 0.5 µg/mL. The precision (%RSD) was < 10%, while trueness ranged from 90 – 107%. The developed method is simple, accurate, and sensitive for the quantitation of all 20 acidic and neutral cannabinoids. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the quantitation of the cannabinoids in different cannabis chemovars grown at the University of Mississippi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terpenes are the major components of the essential oils present in various Cannabis sativa L. varieties. These compounds are responsible for the distinctive aromas and flavors. Besides the quantification of the cannabinoids, determination of the terpenes in C. sativa strains could be of importance for the plant selection process. At the University of Mississippi, a GC-MS method has been developed and validated for the quantification of terpenes in cannabis plant material, viz., α -pinene, β -pinene, β- myrcene, limonene, terpinolene, linalool, α -terpineol, β -caryophyllene, α -humulene, and caryophyllene oxide. The method was optimized and fully validated according to AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists) guidelines against reference standards of selected terpenes. Samples were prepared by extraction of the plant material with ethyl acetate containing n -tridecane solution (100 µg/mL) as the internal standard. The concentration-response relationship for all analyzed terpenes using the developed method was linear with r2 values > 0.99. The average recoveries for all terpenes in spiked indoor cultivated samples were between 95.0 – 105.7%, with the exception of terpinolene (67 – 70%). The measured repeatability and intermediate precisions (% relative standard deviation) in all varieties ranged from 0.32 to 8.47%. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation for all targeted terpenes were determined to be 0.25 and 0.75 µg/mL, respectively. The proposed method is highly selective, reliable, and accurate and has been applied to the simultaneous determination of these major terpenes in the C. sativa biomass produced by our facility at the University of Mississippi as well as in confiscated marijuana samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) is an annual herbaceous plant that belongs to the family Cannabaceae. Trans-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the two major phytocannabinoids accounting for over 40% of the cannabis plant extracts, depending on the variety. At the University of Mississippi, different strains of C. sativa, with different concentration ratios of CBD and Δ9-THC, have been tissue cultured via micropropagation and cultivated. A GC-FID method has been developed and validated for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of acid and neutral cannabinoids in C. sativa extracts. The method involves trimethyl silyl derivatization of the extracts. These cannabinoids include tetrahydrocannabivarian, CBD, cannabichromene, trans-Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol, Δ9-THC, cannabigerol, cannabinol, cannabidiolic acid, cannabigerolic acid, and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid-A. The concentration-response relationship of the method indicated a linear relationship between the concentration and peak area ratio with R² > 0.999 for all 10 cannabinoids. The precision and accuracy of the method were found to be ≤ 15% and ± 5%, respectively. The limit of detection range was 0.11-0.19 µg/mL, and the limit of quantitation was 0.34-0.56 µg/mL for all 10 cannabinoids. The developed method is simple, sensitive, reproducible, and suitable for the detection and quantitation of acidic and neutral cannabinoids in different extracts of cannabis varieties. The method was applied to the analysis of these cannabinoids in different parts of the micropropagated cannabis plants (buds, leaves, roots, and stems). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]