Planta Med 2016; 82 - PA28
DOI: 10.1055/s-0036-1578643

Development And Validation Of An UHPSFC-DAD/MS Method For The Qualitative And Quantitative Determination Of Major Cannabinoids In Cannabis Plant Extracts And Products

M Wang 1, YH Wang 1, B Avula 1, MM Radwan 1, AS Wanas 1, Z Mehmedic 1, J Van Antwerp 2, J Parcher 1, MA ElSohly 1, 3, IA Khan 1, 4
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 2Waters Corporation, Milford, MA 01757, USA
  • 3Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 4Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA

Cannabis is well known for its medicinal use and has also remained as the most widely abused and popular recreational drug worldwide. The unique chemical substances identified and isolated from Cannabis sativa L. with the typical C21 terpenophenolic skeleton are termed cannabinoids. The psychological and physiological effects of cannabis have been extensively characterized. Most of these effects have been primarily attributed to Δ9-THC. The second major phytocannabinoid, CBD, has increasingly attracted much attention for the development as a medicine due to its reported medicinal properties [1]. However, the major problems with the medical use of cannabis is the lack of standardization and quality control. More efficient and sensitive analytical methods are essential.

A novel method was developed for the analysis of 30 cannabis plant extracts or crude products using UHPSFC coupled with PDA and ESI-MS detection. Using this system, 9 most abundant psychologically active cannabinoids, viz. CBD, Δ8-THC, THCV, Δ9-THC, CBN, CBG, THCA-A, CBDA and CBGA were quantitatively determined (RSD < 6.9%) in less than 10 minutes, and two more cannabinoids, CBL and CBC, were detected. The developed method has a better sensitivity and shorter experimental time than GC methods. Unlike GC method, no derivatization or decarboxylation is required. The SFC method was orthogonal to HPLC, as well as faster and cost-effective with a better resolution and compound identification. The UHPSFC-PDA/MS method was validated, and the quantification results were compared with a standard UHPLC method. The RSD with these two methods were within ± 13.0% for Δ9-THC. Finally, multivariate statistical analysis including PCA and PLS-DA were used to differentiate between the cannabis samples.

Acknowledgements: This research was partially supported by “The University of Mississippi NIDA Marijuana Project” as part of the “Cannabis Potency Monitoring Program” funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (N01DA-15 – 7793), and The United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Specific Cooperative Agreement No. 58 – 6408 – 1-603 – 07. The authors would like to thank Annette Ford for the sample preparation.

References: ElSohly, M.A., W. Gul, and M. Salem, Handbook. Anal. Sep., 2008. 6(Forensic Science): p. 203 – 241.