Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is a chromatographic technique that in many (phyto-) pharmaceutical and analytical research laboratories is used for separation and identification by colouring (chroma =Greek for ‘’color’’) of organic compounds in a mixture of hundreds of compounds, like our cannabinoid drop in figure 1.

TLC is a simple, quick, and inexpensive procedure that gives a quick answer as to how many components are in a mixture. TLC is also used to support the identity of a compound in a mixture when the Rf of a compound is compared with the Rf from the literature (see table 1). In our case, the cannabinoids can be identified by their specific color and specific location (Rf value) and order of appearance on the TLC plate, if carried out with the solvent system from the Kit.
A TLC plate is a sheet of glass which is coated with a thin layer of a solid adsorbent, silica. A small amount of the mixture to be analysed is spotted near the bottom of this plate. The TLC plate is then placed in a shallow pool of a solvent in a developing chamber so that only the very bottom of the plate is in the liquid. This liquid, or eluent or carrier fluid, is the mobile phase, and it slowly rises up the TLC plate by capillary action.

As the solvent moves, it will pass the little spot of cannabinoid-oil micro-droplet of 2 ul that was applied on the bottom of the plate. An equilibrium is established for each component of the mixture between the molecules of that component which are absorbed on the solid and the molecules which are in solution. In principle, the components will differ in solubility and in strength of their adsorption to the adsorbent and the other components will be carried farther up to the plate than the others. When the solvent has reached the top of the plate, the plate is removed from the developing chamber, dried (ventilation!) for 3 minutes. After drying, the separated components (cannabinoids) now separated in the silica plates, will be visualized by spraying the plate with a dye. Thid dye is highly specific for cannabinoids. Every principal cannabinoid will display his own color! THC: wine red, CBD: bright yellow, CBG: orange, CBN: violet etc..(see Table 1)
Another way is UV detection of the spots under a UV lamp: the silica on the thin layer plates used in the Kit contains a fluor, this is a component that absorbs the uv wavelength of 254 nm and which fluoresces every where except where a cannabinoïd or other organic compound is on the plate.
This UV-lamp can be ordered.