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.