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Planta Med 2023; 89(06): 683-696
DOI: 10.1055/a-1962-8165
Natural Product Chemistry & Analytical Studies
Original Papers

Development and Validation of a GC-FID Method for the Quantitation of 20 Different Acidic and Neutral Cannabinoids

Waseem Gul
1   ElSohly Laboratories, Inc., 5 Industrial Park Drive, Oxford, MS, USA
,
Elsayed A. Ibrahim
2   National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA
3   Department of Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt
,
Sharjeel W. Gul
1   ElSohly Laboratories, Inc., 5 Industrial Park Drive, Oxford, MS, USA
4   Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, University of Mississippi, USA
5   School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, USA
6   Frontier Medical College, Abbottabad, KPK, Pakistan
,
Iram Shahzadi
1   ElSohly Laboratories, Inc., 5 Industrial Park Drive, Oxford, MS, USA
,
Mohamed M. Radwan
2   National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA
,
Suman Chandra
2   National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA
,
Hemant Lata
2   National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA
,
Mahmoud A. ElSohly
1   ElSohly Laboratories, Inc., 5 Industrial Park Drive, Oxford, MS, USA
2   National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA
5   School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, USA
7   Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, USA
› Author AffiliationsSupported by: National Institute on Drug Abuse N01DA‑15-7793
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Abstract

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.

Key words

Cannabis sativa - Cannabaceae - cannabinoids - GC-FID - derivatization

Supporting Information



Publication History

Received: 02 June 2022

Accepted after revision: 18 October 2022

Accepted Manuscript online:
18 October 2022

Article published online:
24 January 2023

© 2023. Thieme. All rights reserved.

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