Cannabis sativa L. is a well-known plant, due to its history, bioactivity and also social impact. The chemical composition of its extracts is very complex, due to the presence of many secondary metabolites belonging to different chemical classes. In this ambit, cannabinoids, which are terpenophenolics, represent the main group of bioactive compounds. In order to monitor the composition of the plant material and ensure the safety of its derived products, extraction and analysis of cannabinoids play a crucial role. In this context, in addition to conventional separation methods based on HPLC with both UV/DAD and ESI-MS/MS detection, new strategies based on non-separation procedures, such as 13C-qNMR and ATR-FTIR, may offer several advantages, such as simple or no sample pre-treatment, reduced solvent consumption and simultaneous acquisition of the quali/quantitative data related to many analytes. In the light of all the above, the aim of this work is to compare the efficiency of the above-mentioned analytical techniques in the study of the main cannabinoids in different samples of Cannabis inflorescences, belonging to recreational, medical and fibre-type varieties. The advantages and disadvantages of the different methodologies in this fundamental aspect of Cannabis research are discussed in detail.

Separation and non-separation methods for the analysis of cannabinoids in Cannabis sativa L.

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.