Abstract
We previously developed a rapid method for morphological examination of cannabis and its related herbal products. In this study, general methods for chemical examination by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were improved. In TLC, a development using toluene-hexane-diethylamine (25:10:3, by vol.) at 40°C allowed sufficient separation of cannabinoids and rapid analysis. It was also confirmed that the TLC conditions were applicable to the discrimination of cannabinoids and the other components in herbs. In the pretreatment for GC/MS, using a 96-well plate and a multi-channel pipette allowed to prepare many analytical samples at the same time. In GC/MS, using a short and narrow bore capillary column allowed rapid analysis (ca. 10 min/sample). Based on the chemical examination method in this study and the morphological examination method that we previously developed, a rapid procedure to examine cannabis and its related herbal products was proposed. In the morphological and chemical examination methods that we developed, the total time required for morphological examination by microscopy, color test by Fast Blue B reagent, and chemical examination by TLC was approximately 3 h for 96 samples.
