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A Validated Low-LOQ Study of Cannabinoid Content in Cold-Pressed Hemp Seed Oil (CPHSO) Manufactured in North America
  • STEVEN MCGARRAH
STEVEN MCGARRAH
Park University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

A study of cannabinoid content in commercially available cold-pressed hemp seed oil (CPHSO) manufactured in North America and assayed using a validated low-LOQ analytical method with UHPLC-MS/MS quantitation was conducted. Thirty CPHSO samples from small, medium, and large-scale manufacturers were voluntarily submitted. Samples were produced from eleven known cultivars grown in three Canadian provinces and six US States, plus one sample from seeds imported from Poland and pressed in the USA. Oil density was measured for each sample, as were the content of sixteen cannabinoids with validated commercial reference standards, and reported in parts-per-million (ppm). Observational and statistical methods were used to examine variances in analyte concentrations, demonstrating significant differences in cannabinoid concentrations between samples. Several per-sample and per-analyte heatmaps aided in the visual examination of variances. A two-phase series of linear regressions were performed on normally distributed cannabinoids with raw and trimmed data sets to determine if content variations correlated to manufacturer cleaning, handling, and storage procedures, or if the variation was influenced more by cultivar. The research findings suggest that variance in cannabinoid content is likely most influenced by cultivar, but do not rule out contributions by supplier handling and processing techniques.