for all the experts

[konvikt419]

ok i see alot of things on here that i had no idea about and hopefully you have one more trick i m trying to figure out the test for the thc content of the bud is there a formula, test kit, expensive machine, or something that its not really a problem but i didnt know where to post this one so if anyone has an idea let me know:S5:

konvikt419 Reviewed by konvikt419 on 11-07-2008. for all the experts ok i see alot of things on here that i had no idea about and hopefully you have one more trick i m trying to figure out the test for the thc content of the bud is there a formula, test kit, expensive machine, or something that its not really a problem but i didnt know where to post this one so if anyone has an idea let me know:S5: Rating: 5

[dillhole]

Send the buds to me and I'll smoke them. Then I'll tell you how strong they were :jointsmile:

Sorry, couldn't resist. I'd like to know the answer to this question too!

[konvikt419]

i knew someone was gonna say it just didnt know how fast it was gonna be way to be on top of things:jointsmile:

[Dutch Pimp]

I'm pretty sure the test for THC content, requires a high tech lab...(or my brain)...:bonghit:

[IAmKowalski]

There was a product called Cannalyse - but I believe the name has changed so you'll probably have to do a bit of reasearch (Google is your friend) to find out what it's called now.

It will give you a breakdown of the concentration of several different chemicals in a given sample.

[konvikt419]

so it can be done at home does anone know specific chemicals or other methods come on guys get those thinking caps on:tin foil hat: thanks alot for input

[IAmKowalski]

Well, the Cannalyse kit comes with everything you need but....

This might be interesting to try if you've got the cash to blow on supplies:

* Home THC urine test strips.
* High accuracy lab scale.
* High proof alcohol or pure acetone.
* Buret, beakers etc. for titration.
* a whole lot of distilled water.

You could get a rough comparison between two samples of weed at least as far as the relative concentration of whatever specific chemicals those test strips respond to. This might be useful, or it might not. I'd love someone to try it though and report back I don't have the cash to buy equipment or supplies myself

You would need to first measure out identical weight samples of bud A and bud B - remember that the larger the sample you start with the better precession you can get in the final comparisons. You should make sure that each sample is COMPLETELY dry - I would suggest baking each sample after drying at high enough of a temperature to convert all thca to thc for long enough to completely dehydrate the sample... COMPLETELY. Everything that isn't a stem or seed should be ground completely with a mortar and pestle. You want a homogeneous blend finely powdered of the entire sample.

You would then need to place both bud samples in separate containers - make sure they are the same shape and size as we don't want any unintended differences to effect our results. Add the same amount of alcohol to each - I would say at least 1 liter of alcohol or acetate and 1 oz of powdered bud sample measured as carefully as possible.

(The good news is that if you use everclear or 151 for your extraction, you've got green dragon so your leftovers don't have to go to waste or if you prefer, you could use pure acetone for the extraction and then evaporate off the solvent when you are done testing - then you've got pure honey oil )

both containers should be closed up now and put away for a few days while the THC and etc. is dissolved into the alcohol.

You will now want to filter out your extracts - I would suggest using a french press to press down the mass of the plant sample and then pour the liquid through filter cloth in a funnel into new containers.

Next you are going to need to take a sample of each extraction and massively dilute it - you would need to measure out a bit of each - enough of a sample that you can be sure that your measurements are identical - say 10 ml. Each sample should then be pured into a large sample of water - say 1 gallon.

This is your initial dilution.

Now, you can take each of the diluted extract samples and use your buret to measure out a set of further dilutions: You would want to find how many ml of the extract mixed into a large sample of water are necessary for the test strip to read positive.

If the extract of sample A causes the test to read positive with 1 ml of the initial dilution mixed into a liter of distilled water whereas sample B doesn't read positive until 5 ml of the initial dilution is mixed into a liter of distilled water then it certainly means SOMETHING - though I'm not sure what exactly.

This all might be relatively pointless in the end, but then again it might turn out to be an interesting comparison between samples - to determine that you could do a baseline comparison between two sister plants that have a definite preserved difference in potency when smoked. If the seemingly more potent sample and the less potent sample do in fact show a real measurable difference in this test - then the test might actually be meaningful.

And hey, if not it still seems like it could be fun - and you wind up with a bunch of honey oil or green dragon to enjoy after all is said and done anyway

Have fun!

[stinkyattic]

Expert checking in...

To get a good breakdown of all the psychoactives in a given weighed and properly extracted sample, here's the simplified SOP that I would use:

Dry bud in a controlled-temperature lab oven at 80'C for 4 hours.
Weigh out exactly one gram of bud on an analytical balance.
Place it into a kiln-baked glass vessel containing ample hexane to fully immerse the sample. Other solvents may be used but will require a solvent-switch step before analyzing. Vortex, centrifuge, and decant supernatant into a second clean glass vessel.
Repeat wash steps two more times, reserving pooled supernatant.
If UHP isopropanol was used, you will now do a solvent swithc. Blow down the pooled sample under N2 in a Rapid Vap or Rotovap to near dryness at 60'C. Bring back up to 10mL with hexane.
Blow sample back down to exactly 1mL and transfer to a hexane-rinsed sample vial. Add your internal standard at a concentration and volume so as not to interfere with analysis or create significant dilution.
Buy a gas chromatograph. Agilent makes a good one which will only run you about $160,000 installed with a service contract. I don't recommend their software though. Spend the extra six grand and buy the Chromeleon package made by Dionex, because with that many eluting peaks in a sample, you don't want to fuck with the tedious load times and inelegant baseline correction utility that comes with the insturment.
You're also going to need an analytical column. This, you're going to have to research yourself. You'll want a reasearch grade column that is capable of separating the individual psychoactive congeners, unless you only care about total resins in the plant, but in that case you may end up with interferences from the aromatic terpenes. That is something you will have to work out with your oven/detector/flow rate programming during method development. You may even want to choose a dual-column system that allows coeluting peaks to be verified by the second method.
Run a set of calibration standards. Check the AccuStandard catalog for drug-lab supplies. Check your calibration curve- identify all peaks and enter true values into the calibration table. I recommend at LEAST a 4-point curve, including the blank.
Run your samples. Adjust the baselines. Quantify.
Enjoy.

:jointsmile:

[stinkyattic]

Kowalski, that test you describe would actually be very accurate if you knew the active indicator chemical in the test strip and owned a spectrophotometer. That would actually allow quantitation- quite precise actually- if you had a reference standard. You can make a simple calibration template in Lotus for colorimetric determinations like that.

[stinkyattic]

Hahaa forgot the classic method: The Bioassay
Find an old biker.
Weigh out 0.5g of sample.
Roll a joint with it.
Give to old biker.
Record results.