Conclusions
The small number of samples in the study limited in-depth conclusions
from statistical analysis but did provide an opportunity to investigate
certain aspects of research published before this study. The variety of
cultivars aligned closely with suppliers and most manufacturers provided
samples from only a single varietal, which indicates the manufacturers
and growers may limit their cultivar selection to those best suited to
the geographic area or to those the farmers are most experienced in
growing.
The phase 1 (untrimmed data) findings showed that the majority of cannabinoid
analytes found in commercial cold-pressed hemp seed oil manufactured by
producers in North America are of minor quantity. Notable exceptions
include CBDA and CBD, which generally account for 50-90% of the total
measured cannabinoid content.
Most assays revealed content concentrations at the lower end of the
observed ranges, with a substantial amount of samples having higher than
average value exceeding the upper limits of the 95% mean confidence
interval (CI). In some analytes, more than 30% of the samples exceeded
the upper limits of the CI for multiple analytes. In phase 2, after the
data was trimmed to the upper limit of the CI, the range of cannabinoid
content for most analytes was considerably lower.
These findings suggest that commercially available hemp seed oils can
contain a wide range of cannabinoid concentrations. Measuring the
cannabinoids and understanding their contribution to total cannabinoid
content satisfies the first and third objectives of this study. The
researcher makes no particular claims about the second objective, which
relates to any safety and efficacy concerns since any such
determinations will likely be species-specific. Nevertheless, these
findings should be informative to formulators wishing to incorporate
CPHSO.
For the second objective, the researcher investigated whether the
variations could be attributed to factors related to cleaning, handling,
and processing, or are more cultivar-related due to natural cannabinoid
content variances in specific breeds of the plant. The results of
investigations into supplier-related variations in cannabinoid
concentrations were inconclusive, with mixed and conflicting results.
Variations in cannabinoid content can be attributed to multiple factors,
but the evidence seems to support these variations are related more to
cultivar than the supplier. The investigations into cultivar-related
cannabinoid concentrations showed significant correlations, and even
though most suppliers provided only one cultivar, reciprocal
relationships did not exist when the same data was regressed with
suppliers. However, the researcher determined there is insufficient
data in this study to make reliable conclusions as to whether
cannabinoid content differences are influenced by supplier-related
issues.
While this study satisfied the stated objectives, it highlights areas
needing additional research concerning cannabinoid content and
variances. A more extensive data set, with a larger number of samples of
each varietal, and higher supplier participation is recommended to
produce reliable conclusions about factors contributing to cannabinoid
variance in CPHSO.