Analysis of Cannabinoids in Hemp and Hemp-Containing Products Using HPLC With Post-Column Derivatization

The legalization of hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill brought new opportunities as well as new challenges to both growers of industrial hemp and manufacturers of hemp-containing products. The Farm Bill classifies hemp as the plant Cannabis sativa L. and all its derivatives with delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) of not more than 0.3% concentration. To comply with Federal laws, all producers need to test their products to determine THC content as well as the concentration of other cannabinoids, particularly CBD, that are associated with the pharmacological activity of Cannabis sativa L. plant.

A new HPLC method with post-column derivatization was developed to analyze cannabinoids in hemp and hemp-containing edible products. This post-column method is based on reaction with Fast Blue Salt reagent under basic conditions. Detection at 475 nm is performed using a UV/Vis detector.

The method utilizes a simple extraction procedure with no additional sample clean-up and is suitable for analysis of the major neutral cannabinoids as well as cannabinoid acids with high sensitivity and selectivity of detection.