We’ve had a lot of fun exploring all the useful information we can find out about potency with our HPLC.

The other day, I made a batch of canna-butter. I was really excited to find out what the real potency of my homemade infusion was. But that wasn’t enough. I decided to do a little more “research” during the process.

First, we tested the raw trim before it was decarboxylated and made into butter. The results were 7.3% THCa, 0.5% THC, and 0.02% CBN. At that potency, my one ounce of trim contains approximately 1600 mg of THC.

When we decarboxylated the trim in the oven, we took samples at intervals during the process to see how the cannabinoid profile changed. It was fascinating to compare the results. You can actually see the THCa convert to THC as it decarboxylates. You can also see the amount of CBN increase slightly as the THC slowly breaks down in the heat.

	THCA %	THC %	CBN %
Pre-decarb	7.33	0.49	0.02
20 minutes	2.12	4.67	0.08
40 minutes	0.65	5.07	0.10
60 minutes	0.30	5.60	0.12

After 1 hour in a 250 degree oven, the THC potency was 5.6%. I used 28 grams of trim with approximately 1570 mg of THC to infuse 2 cups of butter.

Finally, when the butter was finished and strained, we took another sample to find out the potency of the final product so I could more easily dose my edibles. The final THC content was 0.3%. You can see the final report of the potency test results here.

That may not sound like much, until you convert it into milligrams per milliliter (using voodoo math, of course). At this potency, my butter has approximately 2.7 mg/ml. A teaspoon is around 5 milliliters. That means that each teaspoon of my butter has around 13.5 mg of THC. A tablespoon would contain around 40 mg.

I made 2 cups, or 32 tablespoons, of butter. At 40 mg per tablespoon, the entire batch comes out to around 1280 mg, making my extraction efficiency over 80%. Not bad.

After years of making homemade edibles, it’s so cool to have this potency information! I won’t have to dose my edibles blindly anymore. I gave my neighbors some butter to try and it was so nice to be able to tell them how potent it really was, instead of just guessing.

If you’re in Colorado, you can get your infused oils tested too! Contact The Good Lab for more information.

~ Teri Robnett (Rx MaryJane)