Department Chair

Jinseok Heo

Date of Award

8-2026

Access Control

Campus-Only Access

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

Advisor

Joonyeong Kim, Ph.D.

First Reader

Joonyeong Kim, Ph.D.

Second Reader

Jinseok Heo, Ph.D.

Abstract

As cannabis commercialization grows, rigorous profiling of cannabinoids, terpenes, and chemical contaminants is legally required for industry standardization and consumer safety. Terpenes are highly volatile components that dictate the unique aromatic profiles and therapeutic properties of cannabis via receptor pathways. This project focused on a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector/mass selective detector (GC-FID/MSD) combined with headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) sampling to analyze terpenes present in four cannabis samples. Cannabis samples were tightly sealed in vials (10 mL) and heated to vaporize terpenes in the headspace above the samples, followed by the extraction of the vaporized terpenes using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-coated SPME fiber. The results were compared to those produced by conventional liquid solvent extractions, which heavily depend on the selection of organic solvents and extraction time. Experimental data showed distinct chemical fingerprints among the cannabis samples, with absolute values spanning 1.50 to 113 µg/g. The absolute amounts of terpenes recovered via HS-SPME were much lower than those via liquid extraction, presumably due to the lower extraction efficiency of HS-SPME. In addition, the relative ratios of each terpene differed from those obtained via liquid extraction. This discrepancy is caused by differences in the distribution constants (KD) of terpenes between the solid samples and the headspace, as well as between the headspace and the PDMS SPME fiber. Although HS-SPME provides a solvent-free sampling method, further experiments are required to optimize and validate this technique. to determine distribution constants (KD) of terpenes at two interfaces for precise quantification.

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