Center for the Study of Cannabis and Social Policy, Seattle, WA, USA.
Phytalytics LLC, Kirkland, WA, USA.
Planta Med. 2018 Mar;84(4):234-241. doi: 10.1055/s-0043-119361. Epub 2017 Sep 19.
A recent cannabis use survey revealed that 60% of cannabis users rely on smelling the flower to select their cannabis. Olfactory indicators in plants include volatile compounds, principally represented by the terpenoid fraction. Currently, medicinal- and adult-use cannabis is marketed in the United States with relatively little differentiation between products other than by a common name, association with a species type, and Δ-9 tetrahydrocannabinol/cannabidiol potency. Because of this practice, how terpenoid compositions may change during an extraction process is widely overlooked. Here we report on a comparative study of terpenoid and cannabinoid potencies of flower and supercritical fluid CO (SC-CO) extract from six cannabis chemovars grown in Washington State. To enable this comparison, we employed a validated high-performance liquid chromatography/diode array detector methodology for quantification of seven cannabinoids and developed an internal gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for quantification of 42 terpenes. The relative potencies of terpenoids and cannabinoids in flower versus concentrate were significantly different. Cannabinoid potency increased by factors of 3.2 for Δ-9 tetrahydrocannabinol and 4.0 for cannabidiol in concentrates compared to flower. Monoterpenes were lost in the extraction process; a ketone increased by 2.2; an ether by 2.7; monoterpene alcohols by 5.3, 7 and 9.4; and sesquiterpenes by 5.1, 4.2, 7.7, and 8.9. Our results demonstrate that the product of SC-CO extraction may have a significantly different chemotypic fingerprint from that of cannabis flower. These results highlight the need for more complete characterization of cannabis and associated products, beyond cannabinoid content, in order to further understand health-related consequences of inhaling or ingesting concentrated forms.
最近的一项大麻使用调查显示，60%的大麻使用者依赖于闻花香来选择他们的大麻。植物中的嗅觉指标包括挥发性化合物，主要由萜烯类化合物组成。目前，医用和成人用大麻在美国以相对较少的产品差异进行销售，除了通用名称、与物种类型的关联以及 Δ-9 四氢大麻酚/大麻二酚效价外，几乎没有其他差异。由于这种做法，萜烯类化合物在提取过程中如何变化被广泛忽视。在这里，我们报告了对在华盛顿州种植的六种大麻化学型的花和超临界二氧化碳（SC-CO2）提取物的萜烯类化合物和大麻素效价进行的比较研究。为了进行这种比较，我们采用了一种经过验证的高效液相色谱/二极管阵列检测方法来定量七种大麻素，并开发了一种内部气相色谱-质谱法来定量 42 种萜烯。花与浓缩物中萜烯类化合物和大麻素的相对效价有显著差异。与花相比，浓缩物中 Δ-9 四氢大麻酚和大麻二酚的效价分别增加了 3.2 倍和 4.0 倍。在提取过程中失去了单萜类化合物；酮类化合物增加了 2.2 倍；醚类化合物增加了 2.7 倍；单萜醇类化合物增加了 5.3、7 和 9.4 倍；倍半萜类化合物增加了 5.1、4.2、7.7 和 8.9 倍。我们的结果表明，SC-CO2 提取的产物可能与大麻花具有显著不同的化学型指纹。这些结果强调了需要对大麻及其相关产品进行更全面的表征，超越大麻素含量，以便进一步了解吸入或摄入浓缩形式对健康的相关影响。
