Successful Routine Monitoring of Cannabinoids with HPLC – Challenges & Solutions

Speaking at the Analytical Cannabis Expo Europe Online 2021, Rainer Schmid, PhD, of MCRA presented his talk on cannabis testing by HPLC.

Abstract: Fast and rugged monitoring of Cannabinoids in hemp plant material (flowers) or in commercially produced hemp products (as extracts and oils) by HPLC is becoming more and more a daily practice. Even when monitoring only single cannabinoids a complex separation system is nevertheless a requirement. Reversed phase separation may offer good solutions, but it turns out, that fast and easy separations of >10 Cannabinoids in a run are hard to establish. Own developments have shown that fast separations become possible when choosing modern core-shell columns, not necessarily requiring UHPLC instrumentation. But a specific column selectivity is a critical aspect, only few HPLC columns may offer. The influence of the different separation parameters will be discussed: Knowing them well, will lead to a stable separation method at the end. Well established pre-analytical procedures and calibration strategies should not be overlooked, when setting up a successful and economic Cannabis monitoring system.