A Guide to Enhancing Quality and Consumer Safety in Cannabis Testing
Rigorous testing of cannabis derivatives in medicinal and recreational cannabis-based products is essential to ensure consumer safety.
Sartorius offers a variety of robust and reliable solutions that enable you to achieve optimal test results and allow your laboratory to run seamlessly. With products that stretch the entire testing workflow, you can rapidly determine your samples’ moisture and weight, and safely prepare your samples for analytical or microbiological analysis. Our Q-App software supports your data integrity through enhanced security settings.
Our solutions will help you to build efficient workflows and achieve high-quality results. We have compiled a guide of valuable resources, explaining how to:
- Ensure accurate and reproducible standards and best practices in sample prep during analytical testing
- Conduct rapid early in-process testing of sample mass and moisture
- Enable cost-effective quality control with enhanced sample prep solutions
- Automate documentation for reproducible and accurate results that meet the standards for safety and labelling
Partner with Sartorius to ensure reliable sample preparation, product testing and data integrity during cannabis analysis.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1b
Striving for Product Quality Assurance in the ‘Wild West’ of Medical Cannabis
Chapter 1c
Managing Influences on Moisture Content in Cannabis for Optimization of Sample Throughput, Accuracy and Precision of Results
Chapter 3b
Analysis of Aqueous Mobile Phase Sample Preparation and Filtration Steps in Cannabis Analytical Testing
Chapter 4
How Does Syringe Filtration Impact Recovery of Cannabinoids Prior to Potency Testing?
Chapter 5
Analysis of Active and Toxic Substances in Cannabis: Common Methods and Challenges of Sample Preparation
Chapter 9
From Startup to Scale-up: Growing a U.S. Cannabis Testing Lab with Latest Technology
Chapter 10
Avoiding Contamination in Cannabis in Quality Control Sample Preparation
Chapter 1a
Moisture Content Determination in Cannabis Inflorescence
Moisture is an important process parameter for the processing of cannabis, either to monitor the curing process or before the extraction of cannabis, where certain moisture limits must not be exceeded or undercut. Moisture not only effects shelf-life and taste sensation but can also affect the percentage of THC in cannabis products, as moisture is a substantial part of the total weight. If the moisture changes, the percentage of the THC also changes, as the total amount of THC remains constant. Learn more in the Application Note.
Chapter 1b
Striving for Product Quality Assurance in the ‘Wild West’ of Medical Cannabis
Ever since the medicinal properties of cannabis and its components were first recognized in pain relief for a wide range of ailments, debates about its safety have loomed large. Not least of these concerns has been the quality of the cannabis product administered and how its components transform during use, for example under heating. In the U.S. private sector, some states have been slower than others to adopt regulations, and Arizona has been the last to enshrine in law the requirement to fully test all finished cannabis products against a wide range of parameters. With those new regulations not coming into force until November 2020, one company – Level One Labs – is poised to take advantage of the emerging market for cannabis testing in Arizona and is already ahead of the game. Working out of its labs in Scottsdale, Arizona, Conner Griffeth is Level One Labs’ Chief Operating Officer and co-founder, and a passionate advocate of patient safety. He is very excited about what the future holds for Arizona’s medical cannabis industry. Learn how this diagnostic testing company in the U.S. is meeting the increasing demand for patient safety in medical cannabis products. This article was published by SelectScience®️.
Chapter 1c
Managing Influences on Moisture Content in Cannabis for Optimization of Sample Throughput, Accuracy and Precision of Results
After extensive analysis time developing testing and measurement protocols for moisture analysis in cannabis, see what Conner D. Griffeth, COO, Level One Labs had to say about Sartorius moisture analyzers and their application in cannabis testing laboratories.
“The Sartorius moisture analyzers have been a great addition to our lab. They are simple to use, efficient, accurate and the ability to add more modules to maintain throughput was huge for us.”
Conner D. Griffeth, COO, Level One Labs
Want to learn more about this crucial application for the cannabis industry?
Chapter 2
Contaminant Free Pipette Tips for Analytical Cannabis Testing
Contaminants from common plastic labware can interfere with quality and potency testing by HLPS or GC-MS and heavy metal testing by ICP-MS. With the Cannabis industry analyzing contaminants in concentrations as low as parts-per-billion it is important to choose labware that have been tested not to release interfering compounds of interest of Cannabis quality control such as Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury or Lead or pesticides.
Chapter 3a
In House Prepared Water as an Alternative to Bottled HPLC-Grade Water
In many testing laboratories, bottled HPLC-grade water is the standard when performing quantitative potency analysis for cannabinoids like THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) or CBD (Cannabidiol). In-house produced water, on the other hand, may be qualitatively equivalent and also a more cost-effective alternative. The objective of this study was to determine if aqueous mobile phase preparations using in-house purified Type 1 water (prepared with Sartorius Arium® Water Purification System) yielded qualitatively comparable results to those from purchased HPLC-grade bottled water. We analyzed cannabis samples from mobile phase preparations using each source of. Additionally, we analyzed a blank matrix specimen using homogenized nettle leaf (Urtica dioica), both with and without cannabinoid spikes, using designated mobile phases for each water type, to assess any specimen effects from the water. The results indicate that water types and sources did not affect specimen quantitation.
Chapter 3b
Analysis of Aqueous Mobile Phase Sample Preparation and Filtration Steps in Cannabis Analytical Testing
The two-fold objective of this study was to 1) demonstrate that aqueous mobile phase preparations from purchased lab grade bottled water yielded comparable results to in-house prepared water (Sartorius Arium® purified water Type 1 and Type 3) and that 2) using filters (Sartorius Minisart® RC, SRP, NY & NY Plus, all 0.2 µm) yielded comparable results to unfiltered specimens under the same mobile phase conditions. A blank matrix specimen (homogenized nettle leaf (Urtica dioica)) was spiked for calibrators and controls and analyzed without cannabinoid spikes (blanks, n=5) using designated mobile phases for each water type to assess any specimen effects from the water. In addition, a true cannabis specimen was filtered using each of the four different filter types (Sartorius Minisart® RC, SRP, NY & NY Plus, all 0.2 µm) and analyzed (n=5) using the corresponding calibration curves and controls. Download the poster now.
Chapter 4
How Does Syringe Filtration Impact Recovery of Cannabinoids Prior to Potency Testing?
Cannabis extracts from cannabis flowers or in cannabis-infused products, tent to heavy particulates. Therefore, an essential element of sample preparation prior to analysis with HPLC is the removal or particles. We tested four different 0.2 µm Sartorius Minisart® filters, differentiated by their membrane material (regenerated cellulose, PTFE, Nylon, and Nylon with a quartz pre-filter) to check the presence of leachables and retention of cannabinoid analytes.
Chapter 5
Analysis of Active and Toxic Substances in Cannabis: Common Methods and Challenges of Sample Preparation
Cannabis has garnered a great deal of new attention due to the increasing instances of its legalization for recreational use and indications for medicinal benefit. Despite a growing number of laboratories focused on cannabis analysis, the separation science literature pertaining to the determination of cannabis natural products is still in its infancy. Discover the target compound classes and the methods to be used. This article was published by Wiley.
Chapter 6
Analytical Cannabis Testing and the Importance of High-Quality Water
This article is a must read for laboratory personnel and cannabis industry professionals considering water supply solutions for their analytical testing needs. High-performance water filtration systems, such as the Arium® Series water purification system from Sartorius, provide long-term practical and economic advantages to cannabis testing laboratories. This article presents: An overview of the various stages in analytical cannabis testing and the preferred methods for compound measurement. A description of High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and the factors involved in successful cannabis compound measurement. A summary of the critical importance of water and solvent quality in accurate cannabis compound detection and quantification.
Chapter 7
Cannabis Workflow - From Seed to Sale
Sartorius helps you build efficient workflows, so you can concentrate on achieving high-quality results in your medicinal Cannabis analysis. Discover the workflow poster and understand the challenges and solutions we can offer within the Cannabis environment.
Chapter 8
Never Underestimate Sample Preparation in Cannabis Testing
In an interview with New Food’s editor, Wallace Harvey, Regional Business Manager from Sartorius, explains the importance of sample preparation in cannabis testing and the work it is doing to help develop standardization across the board.
Chapter 9
From Startup to Scale-up: Growing a U.S. Cannabis Testing Lab with Latest Technology
Free Fall Testing Labs in Pueblo, Colorado, is the realization of former finance worker and tax investigator Kim Toman’s vision. Now owner of this established cannabis testing facility, Toman tells how and why she made the unusual career transition and, with the help of close supporters, managed to progress from a startup to running a complete cannabis testing laboratory, capable of both potency and microbial testing. We also break down her workflows to find out what equipment has been instrumental to her success. This article was published by SelectScience®.
Chapter 10
Avoiding Contamination in Cannabis in Quality Control Sample Preparation
Patient and consumer safety is a critical factor during manufacturing of your products. In addition, false test results in product quality testing can lead to unnecessary scrapping of batches and product recalls. Good pipetting practices using filtered and pure pipette tips help ensure contamination-free pipetting to prevent contamination during sample preparation, ensuring true test results and patient and consumer safety. This article was published by Cannabis Science & Technology.