Transfer of Phytocannabinoids From Dried Plant to Aqueous Infusions: Is Cannabis ‘Tea’ Safe?

Result code in IS VaVaI

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Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Transfer of Phytocannabinoids From Dried Plant to Aqueous Infusions: Is Cannabis ‘Tea’ Safe?

Original language description

Cannabis sativa L. is one of the oldest medicinal plants, cultivated mainly in Central Asia since ancient times. Research on this plant has made great progress in recent years, due to the renewed interest of both public institutions and private companies [1]. Moreover, the demand for cannabis-based products is growing significantly among the general public [2]. One of the relatively new trends in western countries is cannabis ‘tea’, which has gained popularity due to its potential health benefits. However, the cannabis plant, depending on the chemotype, contains the psychotropic phytocannabinoid delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC) and its precursor delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (Δ⁹-THCA), both of which can pose a threat to health. To evaluate the risks of drinking cannabis tea, we investigated the transfer of these and other phytocannabinoids from dried cannabis into aqueous infusions under various conditions. The data obtained by UHPLC-HRMS/MS method used to characterize both cannabis samples and aqueous infusions showed that the soaking time (3, 5, 10 min) and the amount of cannabis used (0.2, 1.0, 5.0 g / 250 ml of water) had minimal impact on phytocannabinoids transfer. On the other hand, when the tea was boiled (10 min), the concentrations of all 17 targeted phytocannabinoids increased, for some analytes quite dramatically (up to 40 times), while those of phytocannabinoid acids were 2-8 times higher than their neutral analogues. Despite this, even under these most critical conditions, only 2.8% of Δ⁹-THC was transferred from the dry plant into aqueous infusion (4.48 μg into 1 L), which in the case of a 70 kg person who consumes 1 L of cannabis tea per day, represented only 6.4% of the ARfD (1 μg/kg b.w.) defined by the EFSA [3]. Consequently, our research suggests that the potential benefits of drinking hemp tea far outweigh the risks associated with the ingesting Δ⁹-THC and Δ⁹-THCA in the standard herbal tea preparation procedure. However, some cannabis tea producers recommend adding cream, milk or a small amount of cannabis oil to the infusion when the herb is soaked. Due to the lipophilic nature of phytocannabinoids, their concentration in the infusion can be increased several times by this procedure. Therefore, the risk assessment of the potential intake of psychotropic phytocannabinoids due to the consumption of cannabis tea should not only be based on the measurement of its content in the dry material, but also consider the method used for the preparation of tea.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

30312 - Substance abuse

Project

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Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů