The Analysis of an Extended Terpenes List in a Commercial Cannabis Laboratory

The purpose of the project was to produce a method for analyzing an extended list of terpenes in cannabis products. Many terpene methods that target an extended list of analytes have very long run times and are not practical to run in a commercial setting.  Terpenes have been part of the human experience for millennia and provide much of the sensory experience from using cannabis. Research and appreciation for these compounds in cannabis has grown significantly. There is an ever-increasing interest in understanding the terpene profile and how it influences the final consumable product.  

Terpenes are widespread throughout nature with thousands of individual compounds. They are built from repeating units of isoprene and are classified based on the number of isoprene units utilized in their synthesis. Due to the nature of these compounds, gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer is the preferred method of analysis.