Cannabidiol (CBD) Concentrates Quality Control and Shelf-life Stability

CBD Oil in Water Emulsion Concentrates

Cannabidiol (CBD) is the second most abundant active ingredient of cannabis and is obtained from the hemp plant. CBD has gained large following due to medicinal benefits (claimed or real) without having any of the psychoactive effects of its cousin marijuana.

Because hemp is legal in most states in one form or another CBD is generally sold as a supplement.

The two most popular forms of CBD consumer products are oils and tinctures. Self-emulsifying oil in water emulsions are alos gaining popularity. All forms are sold for a wide range of treatments such as anxiety, insomnia, anti-inflammation, and pain relief.

Despite being a multi billion dollar market, product stability varies widely and there are no industry standards for formulation stability and shelf-life. While contaminants, impurities, active ingredients, and THC levels are easily tested for, very little effort is devoted to the products physical stability and physical shelf-life.

CBD oils, CBD tinctures, and oil in water emulsions each have their own formulation challenges and are suspect to different product instabilities and shelf-life degradation mechanisms.

In most CBD oil formulations the native CBD oil, which is a complex mixture of lipids, fatty acids, vitamins, and other byproducts, is mixed in with a carrier oil. This is done for solubility, absorption, and cost reasons.

The broad range of carrier oils can lead to formulation challenges, as there is not one size fits all regarding solubility and stability.

Instability mechanisms such as coalescence, precipitation, and phase separation will therefore be detrimental to the product efficacy.