An electrochemical approach for the prediction of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid and total cannabinoid content in Cannabis sativa L.

Alessandro Monari; Sara Cantalù; Barbara Zanfrognini; Virginia Brighenti; Patrizia Verri; Chiara Zanardi; Federica Pellati; Laura Pigani

doi:10.1039/D3AN01090B

An electrochemical approach for the prediction of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid and total cannabinoid content in Cannabis sativa L.†

Alessandro Monari,^a Sara Cantalù,^a Barbara Zanfrognini,

^a Virginia Brighenti,^b Patrizia Verri,^c Chiara Zanardi,^de Federica Pellati

*^bf and Laura Pigani

*^af

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via G. Campi 103, 41125 Modena, Italy
E-mail: laura.pigani@unimore.it

^b Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, G. Campi 103, 41125 Modena, Italy
E-mail: federica.pellati@unimore.it

^c Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

^d Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, via Torino 155, 30170 Venice, Italy

^e Institute for Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity, National Research Council, 40129 Bologna, Italy

^f Interdepartmental Research Centre of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia BIOGEST-SITEIA, Piazzale Europa 1, 42124 Reggio Emilia, Italy

Abstract

Two electrochemical sensors are proposed here for the first time for the fast screening of cannabinoids in Cannabis sativa L. plant material (inflorescences). The accurate control of cannabinoid content is important for discriminating between recreational, i.e. illegal, and fibre-type C. sativa samples, which differ mainly according to the amount of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC) and Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (Δ⁹-THCA). Two screen printed electrodes obtained using different electrode materials were tested for the analysis of extracts from recreational and fibre-type C. sativa and their performance was compared with a consolidated method based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The voltammetric responses recorded in the different samples reflected the compositional differences of the recreational and fibre-type extracts in accordance with the results of HPLC analyses. Moreover, the quantification of Δ⁹-THCA and the total cannabinoid content on the basis of the intensity of the peaks of the voltammograms was possible through a simple and fast electrochemical procedure.

This article is part of the themed collection: Analyst HOT Articles 2023

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3AN01090B
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 29 Jun 2023
Accepted: 24 Jul 2023
First published: 25 Jul 2023

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Analyst, 2023,148, 4688-4697

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An electrochemical approach for the prediction of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid and total cannabinoid content in Cannabis sativa L.

A. Monari, S. Cantalù, B. Zanfrognini, V. Brighenti, P. Verri, C. Zanardi, F. Pellati and L. Pigani, Analyst, 2023, 148, 4688 DOI: 10.1039/D3AN01090B

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