Don’t Overestimate Cannabidiol During Medical Cannabis Potency Testing by Gas Chromatography

Accurate potency testing of medical cannabis with gas chromatography (GC) depends principally on choosing a column with the right selectivity; otherwise, coelutions between cannabinoids of interest may cause error in potency measurements. Potency testing for medical marijuana is often done using “5-type” GC columns. However, on 5-type columns cannabidiol can coelute with cannabichromene. This application note demonstrates that to identify and report both of these compounds accurately, a GC column with a different stationary phase is needed.