Chemovar characterization using Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry

Cannabis species like C. sativa L. are complex plants synthesizing more than 500 identified chemicals. Chemotype identification of cannabis strains is related to cannabinoid content such as high ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol or cannabidiol or both. However, stain identifications like Cannabis sativa L. or by chemotype are much less relevant for contemporary cannabis due to decades of interbreeding and the complexity of the plants and their secondary metabolomes.

More recently, the concept of chemovars has been introduced. Chemovars consider cannabinoid, terpene, and flavonoid chemical profiles as chemical markers for a better overall characterization of the plant. A primary analytical methodology for chemovar identification is quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (qTOF) which offers high resolution accurate mass information for feature identification, structure elucidation, and annotation.

In this presentation, we will demonstrate proof of principle for chemovar identification using qTOF with cannabis and hemp extracts and demonstrate how bioinformatic software is used to turn the raw information into knowledge.

Agilent products and solutions are intended to be used for analytical testing of cannabis in laboratories where such use is permitted under state/country law.

Presenter: Anthony Macherone, PhD (Senior Scientist, Agilent Technologies, Inc.)

For the past several years, Anthony has been leading a team of Agilent scientists for the development and deployment of analytical testing methodologies to assure quality and safety of cannabis products. Anthony has written extensively on cannabis testing methodologies, solving complex problems encountered when using certain analytical systems, and contributed several chapters to books on the subject. In June 2020, Anthony joined Cannabis Science and Technology®’s Editorial Advisory Board.

Presenter: Hui Zhao (Pre-Sales Application Engineer, Agilent Technologies, Inc.)

Hui has 13 years of industry experience developing and validating analytical methods for food/feed nutrition, food safety, dietary supplements and botanicals testing, using a variety of analytical techniques including LC-TQ, LC-QTOF, LC-DAD and GC-MS and a breadth of sample preparation methodologies. She has worked as a Research Scientist at Monsanto, EPL-Bioanalytical Services, Tate & Lyle, Inc. and Lead Staff Scientist at Covance Food Solutions. She holds a Master of Science degree in Analytical Chemistry from Lanzhou University in China and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Missouri.

Prior to becoming a Pre-Sales AE, Hui worked as an LCMS application scientist in Agilent’s global market development group where her primary focus was food and environmental market development.