Yhin layer chromatography (TLC) method to analyze of cannabinoids-level of THC, CBD

[Alfred]

Did anyone use the thin layer chromatography (TLC) method (google it) to analyze of cannabinoids-level of THC, CBD ? There are several test kits available in USA, but they are all very expensive incl. high shipping costs to Europe. Could you advise any european test systems or your own experience of using of TLC or any test systems (positive and negative). If you breed the new strain, how do you chek the THC, CBD-Level ? Thanks..

[Icon]

If you pay my air fair I will come and smoke some and tell you how good it is if that helps:joint::joint::joint:

Other then that I can't really help, sorry

ATB
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[Mindless]

Cannalytics is the brand name in UK, you'll find it on google - Over a hundred quid, I'm going to buy it shortly myself.

[Alfred]

Cannalytics and others similar popular cannabinoid analytic tests from USA are very expensive.. I looking for something cheaper...

[Mindless]

Good luck with that, if you do find something please post back, but price is not something that bothers me to be fair, I only want to know myself.

[137cbd]

alfred , i saw your posting and seek the same information. the kits are very overpriced. i too want to do it myself and only need some technical
background. such info as the solvents used. and how to get the sample size in the detection range.

on doing a google search using keywords [ cannabis chemistry tlc ] many pages appeared. on going thru the first 4 pages an interesting
article in the journal of chromatographic science was read. its out of the match 2004 issue . pages 130 to 134.

you have to read carefully as it compares traditional TLC with newer methods AMD , OPLC. the table 1 figure 1 on page 131 shows you
something that works easily. its labeled TLC-MAT and i believe represents classical TLC too. read it a few times yourself and decide.

key information is what the sample size is. they dont use the term 'bud' like you or i would. but call it ' cannabis resin' and it is 0.1 g.
and it is mixed with 10 ml of hexane.
2 uL of this solution are spotted on a silica gel plate. the eluent is said to be a 80:20 v/v mix of hexane and diethyl ether.
to get a 2 uL measure one just has to buy a plastic stick with a sized loop on one end that holds 1 uL and use it to transfer liquid twice
to the lane on the tlc plate. they also come in 10 uL size .

the result strip / plate is made visible with some sort of a ' blue salt B '. or in the event your plate is uV 254 sensitive you can see
the spots with an ultraviolet light. i bought my uV light from a local rock-hound who wanted a stronger uV light for night time prospecting.;

one problem here though is that CBD , THC and CBN have above - 50 Rf values that are close and so the separation is there , but not great.

this is where more research is indicated.

something i am confused about is figure 3 that shows better separation using isooctane instead of hexane. yet on p. 132 is written the
separation ability decreased with a longer carbon - bearing chain.

note that isooctane has a hazard rating and will cost you its price again for shipping. not so for hexane.

this all will give you some ideas.

it sure has me thinking . for starters my plates are multi - lane and are about 8" x 10" and backed with glass.
so i am shopping for some that have the 254 silica gel on plastic or aluminum so they can be cut into individual test strips.
plus a smaller strip can fit in a test tube during the eluent run instead of a large rectangular tank big enough for a 8x10 plate.

also i want to be able to have the thca appear too. the acid form of thc that is what the plant makes to begin with. with its spot there
too along with thc , cbd and cbn then one can experiment with different time and temp amounts for the decarboxylation step and learn how much is enough. as well as
how hot was too hot and started converting cbd to cbn. not good.

now thca may already be there. see figure 1 again. column 5 ... the lowest blob of a spot just above the 5. what is that ?

i'm guessing that thca undergoes some degradation to thc over time. so there can be simultaneous spots on the same run.

[Rockster]

I used a lab in Prague to test my Cheese#1 against the chemotype/resin profile of the Exodus clone with a 6890 series Hewlett Packard gas liquid chromatograph.

I'm moving to Spain in a few weeks where I'll be looking at the available analysis techniques there. At the Spannabis hemp fairs they are offering on the spot analysis but I didn't inquire as to the actual technique when I last attended as I was too busy working myself.