Homogenizing Confectionery Treats Using the Bead Ruptor 96

Confectionery treats containing cannabis (commonly known as “edibles”) are cannabinoid infused consumable products employed for recreational and medicinal purposes as an alternative method of cannabinoid delivery that is growing in popularity. These products often contain various concentrations of two sought after cannabinoids, cannabidiol (CBD) and the psychoactive component of Cannabis sativa, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Researchers and regulatory bodies are both very interested in analyzing the working concentrations of THC and CBD and their acidic counterparts, THCA and CBDA, in edibles to provide valuable information on their potential therapeutic effects and the regulatory implications of the biologically active cannabinoid components in these various delivery methods. However, cannabinoids are not the only area of interest when evaluating confectionery treats. Recent research has suggested that contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides, and microbes or their by-products can be found on many cannabis derived products, which may have implications on their safety or efficacy.

An important initial step in any type of chemical or molecular analysis of cannabis containing products, such as edibles, is complete and uniform homogenization. Confectionery treats come in many varieties resulting in a wide range of toughness, and strength, from chocolates and gummies to brownies and cookies. Laboratories are using an assortment of homogenization methods for their cannabinoid-containing samples, many of which fall short in producing a truly uniform homogenate for accurate analysis, resulting in inaccurate data on the cannabinoid content of a given sample.

The Omni Bead Ruptor 96 bead mill homogenizer provides homogenization efficiency and effectiveness with robustly reproducible results. The Omni Bead Ruptor 96 bead mill homogenizer is capable of processing up to 96 g of edibles across eight 50 mL tubes in less than 6 minutes, providing a homogenate that is suitable for accurate downstream analysis via HPLC-UV, LC-MS/MS, and GC-MS methodologies. In this protocol snapshot, confectionery treats were homogenized to provide an analog to cannabis-containing edibles, showing the processing power of the Omni Bead Ruptor 96 bead mill homogenizer in complete preparation of these materials for further chemical and molecular analysis.

Figure 2: White chocolate ball 1, milk chocolate ball 2, chocolate bar with caramel inclusions 3, and dark chocolate ball 4 samples before and after homogenization.