A Calgary-based business is set to launch the first Canadian-made cannabis and hemp testing device that is designed to increase growing efficiencies for licensed producers (LPs) by providing quick results showing cannabinoid levels while plants grow, enabling timely processes and harvests.
It is the first such portable testing device made in Canada that is designed for commercial use, publicly traded says.
Using technology that was developed at the University of Calgary in conjunction with the University of Alberta, FluroTech is ready to sell CompleteTest – which detects precise levels of tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) in plants – to licensed cannabis and hemp growers in Canada.
THCA converts into THC when the plant dries while CBDA becomes the much more widely known CBD.
And with the 2018 Farm Bill opening the gate to the entire U.S. hemp industry, FluroTech aims to take CompleteTest to the market there in two to three months.
While there are certified labs conducting these tests already, portable testing devices have started to hit the market for individuals and LPs to attain instant results on their own plants at various stages of growth without having to wait days for lab results and account for cross-lab variabilities, when different labs show varying results.
“Because we can test and give results within minutes, they’ll find the peak point of their optimum yield and they can replicate it,” said Rex Kary, chief operations officer for FluroTech.
The roughly $20,000 item will not replace certified laboratory auditors, the company said.
FluroTech is also working on a saliva testing device designed for companies to test employees’ drug levels.