Medicinal cannabis: Principal cannabinoids concentration and their stability evaluated by a high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array and quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry method

• Published in: Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis 2016-09, Vol.128, p.201-209
• Main Authors: Citti, Cinzia, Ciccarella, Giuseppe, Braghiroli, Daniela, Parenti, Carlo, Vandelli, Maria Angela, Cannazza, Giuseppe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cannabinoids - analysis; Cannabinoids extraction; Cannabinoids stability; Cannabis - chemistry; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Drug Stability; Gas chromatography; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Limit of Detection; Liquid chromatography; Mass Spectrometry; Medical Marijuana - analysis; medicinal cannabis; Plant Extracts - analysis; Reproducibility of Results; Solvents; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
• ISSN: 0731-7085; 1873-264X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2016.05.033

•Principal cannabinoids were determined in cannabis medicinal extracts (CMEs) by HPLC-UV.•Identity and purity of analytes were evaluated by high-resolution mass spectrometry.•Influence of the solvent on the stability of cannabinoids in CMEs was investigated.•An alternative extraction method was proposed to preserve the volatile component.•The method can be easily applied by pharmacists to their own CMEs. In the last few years, there has been a boost in the use of cannabis-based extracts for medicinal purposes, although their preparation procedure has not been standardized but rather decided by the individual pharmacists. The present work describes the development of a simple and rapid high performance liquid chromatography method with UV detection (HPLC-UV) for the qualitative and quantitative determination of the principal cannabinoids (CBD-A, CBD, CBN, THC and THC-A) that could be applied to all cannabis-based medicinal extracts (CMEs) and easily performed by a pharmacist. In order to evaluate the identity and purity of the analytes, a high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-QTOF) analysis was also carried out. Full method validation has been performed in terms of specificity, selectivity, linearity, recovery, dilution integrity and thermal stability. Moreover, the influence of the solvent (ethyl alcohol and olive oil) was evaluated on cannabinoids degradation rate. An alternative extraction method has then been proposed in order to preserve cannabis monoterpene component in final CMEs.