Why lab figures and home calculations differ
A lab reports what is in a product. A home calculation estimates a maximum. They answer different questions.
Two different questions
A lab answers "what is in this batch?" A home calculation answers "what is the most that could be in this portion?" Both are useful; they are not interchangeable.
Why a home figure is a maximum
The calculation on ganja.recipes multiplies grams of flower by its labelled THCA percentage and by 0.877, then divides by the number of portions. It assumes the label is right, that decarboxylation was complete and that all the THC ended up in the infusion and then in your portion. In a home kitchen, none of those is quite true, so the real figure is at or below the calculated one.
Why decarboxylation matters
Hotter and longer heating converts more THCA, but THC itself degrades, mostly to CBN, which is far less potent. A 2016 kinetics study (Wang et al.) measured these reactions and found that conversion happens in tens of minutes at the lower end of the range while longer or hotter heating starts to consume THC.
What this means for you
- Use a lab figure for what a product contains.
- Use a home calculation as an upper estimate, and start with a small portion.
- Do not mix the two: a COA for flower does not give you a dose for a brownie.
- Wang M, Wang Y-H, Avula B, et al. Decarboxylation Study of Acidic Cannabinoids. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. 2016;1(1):262–271. doi:10.1089/can.2016.0020.
