Quantification of sixteen cannabinoids in hemp seed edible oils and the influence of thermal processing on cannabinoid contents and profiles.

To investigate cannabinoid content and profiles, 16 cannabinoids were quantified in 30 commercial hemp seed edible oils. In addition, one hemp seed oil was subjected to thermal processing up to 200 °C for up to 60 min. UHPLC-MS/MS was used for analysis. The content of cannabinoids in the samples ranged from 9 to 279 mg kg-1 (sum) and for Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) from 0.2 to 6.7 mg kg-1. Three samples exceeded the EU Δ9-THC equivalent maximum levels of 7.5 mg kg-1 for hemp seed oils. Cannabinoid profiles can provide indications of different product characteristics (e.g. degree of processing, variety of plant material). Furthermore, intense thermal processing (200 °C, 60 min) led to 38% decrease in sum cannabinoid content (sum of all analysed cannabinoids in this study), 99% decrease in cannabinoid acids, and 22% increase in Δ9-THC.

Cannabinoid contents in hemp teas and estimation of their transfer into tea infusions.

This study focused on the investigation of cannabinoid profiles and contents of 23 different hemp teas and on the individual transfer of 16 cannabinoids from hemp teas into their tea infusions. The total cannabinoid content in the dry products averaged 14,960 mg kg-1, with CBD&CBDA (sum of cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA)) being the major component, accounting for 87% of the total cannabinoid content. The Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) content ranged from 16 mg kg-1 to 935 mg kg-1 and was on average 221 mg kg-1. For each hemp tea, an infusion was prepared according to a standardized protocol issued by the German Standardisation body DIN and transfer rates per cannabinoid were estimated by comparing the contents in the dry material with the concentrations in the aqueous infusion. The limited water solubility of cannabinoids results in limited extraction efficiency for cannabinoids using boiling water to prepare a tea infusion and the average transfer rate of the psychoactive Δ9-THC was only 0.5%.