Cannabis and Hemp Potency Testing. It’s Time for LC/MS to Replace HPLC-UV

Description:
Wherever products derived from cannabis species or the plant itself have been legalized for medicinal or recreational purposes, legislation is enacted to ensure product safety and quality. In general, potency testing determines the quantitative amounts of certain cannabinoids is always defined in the regulations. Regulated cannabinoids include ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), and cannabidiol (CBD). In at least 1 region, 2 more cannabinoids are regulated: cannabinol (CBN), and cannabigerol (CBG). In most regulatory testing labs, potency testing is performed using HPLC systems with ultraviolet (UV) detectors. However, as more and more cannabinoids are being identified and the potential of these being found in cannabis products has grown, non-selective detectors like UV cannot adequately deal with chromatographic and selectivity anomalies. This presentation will discuss the pros and cons of LC/MS vs. UV for potency testing applications.

Speaker: Anthony Macherone - Agilent Technologies
Dr. Anthony Macherone is the Strategic Technical Scientist with Agilent Technologies. His expertise is the application of LC/MS and GC/MS methodologies in drug discovery and medicinal chemistry, metabolomics, and exposomics. For the past 6-plus years, Anthony has been leading a team of Agilent scientists for the development, deployment, and support of analytical testing methodologies for cannabis and hemp products. Anthony has written extensively on cannabis testing methodologies, solving complex problems encountered when using certain analytical systems, and contributed several chapters to books about cannabis testing. In June 2020, Anthony joined Cannabis Science and Technology®’s Editorial Advisory Board and is a member of CS&T's Educational Steering Committee.