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Terpenes in Medical Cannabis

4 Mar 2014

Thanks to a colleague at SRI Instruments who sent me some terpenes, and with the use of other terpenes I had in house, I was able to collect numerous chromatograms of these compounds that may contribute to the "entourage effect" of medical cannabis.  This means they may have therapeutic effects in their own right, or as synergists with cannabinoids.

I'll get into the details of the separation with an update, but I wanted to get this published to see if I get any comments back on other terpenes I should be analyzing (I already know I need things like ocimene, eudesmol, phellandrene, guaiol, e.g.).

I used a 30m x 0.25mm x 1.4µm Rxi-624Sil MS GC column as a starting point because it's a good volatile chemicals column and terpenes are often analyzed via headspace.  The thicker film makes for good trapping/focusing during sample introduction.  But I'm not settled on this column just yet because it may not be the most efficient (a slightly thinner film may produce narrower peaks) and I'm still investigating column selectivities.  Still, I think I made a good first effort.

Please comment on the work!

I show the full chromatogram below first, and then zoom into its features in four separate chromatograms below it.


Full Chro Terpene 01


Terpene Chro 01

 


Terpene Chro 02


Terpene Chro 03

Terpene Chro 04