A Comparison of Antioxidant Potential, Total Phenolic Content, and Cannabidiol (CBD) Content of Cannabis Infused Hemp, MCT, and Olive Oils

The Cannabis industry has seen immense growth in recent years and research on this plant and its constituents has been growing to keep up with industry demand. The majority of research has focused on commercial-scale products and industrial processing, but there is a lack of research on the smaller scale manufacturing side of the Cannabis industry that includes homemade Cannabis products. Popular Cannabis products are oil-based tinctures that are made by infusing Cannabis plant material in a heated source of edible oil. The types of oils used for this process vary, and there is not an established standardized oil type that has been shown to be the optimal choice for reaping the most benefits from Cannabis infusion. The goal of infusing Cannabis in oil is to extract the desirable potentially neurologically active cannabinoid plant molecules that also serve as antioxidants, specifically cannabidiol (CBD). To determine the effect of oil type on extraction ability of Cannabis, different oil types were used to infuse a high-CBD strain of Cannabis and measure antioxidant potential, total phenolic content, and CBD content of the resulting oils. Hemp oil, MCT oil, and olive oil were used as infusion solvents for the ground decarboxylated Cannabis flowers. Consistency in the protocol was followed for the strain of Cannabis, decarboxylation process, grinding process, heated infusion process, and storage conditions. Additionally, control standards were established by implementing the heating process for the oils without Cannabis infusion. Antioxidant potential was assessed using Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) assay, and total phenolic content was assessed using Gallic Acid Equivalence (GAE) assay. CBD content of the CBD oils was assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV). For antioxidant potential, hemp CBD oil had the greatest antioxidant potential, but the other CBD oils had a significant increase in antioxidant potential compared to their control oils whereas hemp CBD oil did not. For total phenolic content, olive CBD oil had the highest total phenolic content. For CBD content, hemp CBD oil and olive CBD oil had the highest CBD content