Development and validation of a sensitive and simultaneous liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of eight phytocannabinoids in various CBD products.

In this study, we developed and validated a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous determination of eight phytocannabinoids in various cannabidiol (CBD) products from Japanese market. This method was combined with electrospray ionization in positive mode and sample preparation with QuEChERS. Three types of commercial products such as honey, chocolate, and gummies were used to perform accurate quantification with unified protocol of LC-MS/MS and QuEChERS. The limit of detection and quantification were 5-20 µg g-1 and 10-40 µg g-1, respectively. Reproducibility was ensured using matrices free of target foods, resulting in an accuracy within ±10 % and a precision with a relative standard deviation of less than 5 % for all targets. Finally, this analytical method was applied to 8 series of commercial samples from the Japanese market. This unified protocol will serve as a reference as an official method in Japan.

Quality test of cannabidiol profiling in CBD oil products and evaluation of residual THC at high temperature based on liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry.

Cannabidiol (CBD) oil products are available in Japan as cosmetics, fragrances, food and items. Herein, quality testing of cannabinoid profiling in CBD oil products and the evaluation of possible residual tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in these products using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was conducted. A simple, sensitive, and selective LC-MS/MS assay (electrospray positive ion mode) was employed for the simultaneous quantification of eight cannabinoids. This quantification with three different oil samples showed that accuracy rates ranged from 87.7 to 106.9% (RSD > 3.5%). Furthermore, the quantification limit of THC is 0.001 mg/g of CBD oil products for suitable levels lower than the regulatory value. Notably, this method was used to evaluate CBD oil products from the Japanese market. Additionally, we investigated the THC conversion in CBD oil products at a high temperature (70°C) which has a minor effect on CBD stability in oil products with additives. Herein, the developed LC-MS/MS assay is applied to monitor the quality of CBD, trace THC and other components in CBD oil products.