Analysis of Liquid CO2 Extract of Hemp Flower and Other Products by GCMS and HPLC
Location
Village Square
Department
Engineering
Abstract
The cannabis industry uses supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ) to extract terpenes and cannabinoids for use in concentrated product such as hash rosin and edibles. The benefit to using scCO 2 as opposed to other solvents such as butane—also commonly found in industry extraction—is that CO 2 easily vaporizes out of the final product, eliminating risk of solvent residue in what goes to market. In contrast to scCO 2 , liquid CO 2 extraction is conducted at a lower temperature, which may prevent decarboxylation of THC-A and CBD-A. Also, equipment for scCO 2 extraction is very expensive, while the melloeX liquid CO 2 extraction system provides an affordable laboratory scale for this procedure. As part of our long-term effort to develop undergraduate experiments in cannabis analysis, we analyzed liquid CO 2 extracts of hemp flower and other products by GC-MS and HPLC. We compare these results to extracts using ethanol, dichloromethane, and hexane conducted previously.
Faculty Sponsor
Charles Abrams, Harry S. Truman College
Analysis of Liquid CO2 Extract of Hemp Flower and Other Products by GCMS and HPLC
Village Square
The cannabis industry uses supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ) to extract terpenes and cannabinoids for use in concentrated product such as hash rosin and edibles. The benefit to using scCO 2 as opposed to other solvents such as butane—also commonly found in industry extraction—is that CO 2 easily vaporizes out of the final product, eliminating risk of solvent residue in what goes to market. In contrast to scCO 2 , liquid CO 2 extraction is conducted at a lower temperature, which may prevent decarboxylation of THC-A and CBD-A. Also, equipment for scCO 2 extraction is very expensive, while the melloeX liquid CO 2 extraction system provides an affordable laboratory scale for this procedure. As part of our long-term effort to develop undergraduate experiments in cannabis analysis, we analyzed liquid CO 2 extracts of hemp flower and other products by GC-MS and HPLC. We compare these results to extracts using ethanol, dichloromethane, and hexane conducted previously.