Simple and fast quantification of cannabinoids in animal feeds by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

There is growing interest in using hemp materials as animal feed ingredients, which may raise safety concerns because of the potential transfer of active cannabinoids to the resultant products of animal origin. Hence, the detection and identification of cannabinoids in feeds would be useful. We developed a simple, fast, and sensitive method for simultaneous quantification of 4 major cannabinoids in animal feeds by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We used a simple solvent extraction and dilution approach to extract cannabinoids from the feed matrix. We validated the method in 2 types of cattle feeds with acceptable intra-day and inter-day accuracy (87.5–116%) and precision (< 15%). The limit of detection was 0.05 µg/g, and the limit of quantification was 0.1 µg/g. Furthermore, the method was able to identify and quantify cannabinoids in cattle feeds mixed with hempseed cake as well as in several different hempseed materials, demonstrating its potential in veterinary laboratory applications.