Cannabis alcoholic cryoextraction process

Effective hemp extraction consists of several necessary steps. One of them is the so-called alcohol cryoextraction (winterization) of oil. This process is essential if we care about a clean, properly refined end product. Regardless of the expected results, hemp extraction cannot do without the process of alcohol cryoextraction. Why is this so important?

Preparation for distillation - what do we remove from hemp?

All types of hemp inside the plant contain many compounds that need to be removed before the distillation process, if we care about a clean and fully effective product. These compounds include fats, waxes, lipids and chlorophyll. Getting rid of unnecessary additional ingredients is essential if we care about the final product whose purity will meet our expectations. What will happen if we forget about alcohol cryoextraction of oil? First of all, we will reduce the purity of the cannabinoid content that should be in the product. Thus, we will reduce the percentage concentration of THC and CBD in the final product, which will mean its lower effectiveness. Ultimately, skipping this process will reflect on the value of the product. There is also another extremely important reason why it is necessary to get rid of these compounds (fats, etc.). A distilled product containing such compounds can cause a fire when we start using a vaporizer. What's more, the presence of waxes, fats and other unwanted chemical compounds can contribute to the change in the chemical composition of the THC/CBD distillate.

Important! Remember that the process of alcohol cryoextraction of oil takes place before decarboxylation, although it is noted that there is a possibility of some change in the order of these actions. In fact, alcohol cryoextraction (winterizarion) of oil is a step that should not be skipped if we do not want to waste raw material.

What is the process of alcohol cryoextraction in the extraction of Indian hemp?

At this point, it is worth moving on to explaining what exactly is alcohol cryoextraction, which is present in hemp extraction. It's worth taking a closer look at the whole process. We already know that alcohol cryoextraction is a process aimed at removing certain compounds from the raw material, the removal of which will significantly facilitate later distillation of the product. The removal of waxes, lipids, fats and chlorophyll during alcohol cryoextraction of oil involves dissolving a non-polar substance (raw oil) in a solvent at a temperature maintained below zero. As a result, we obtain a special mixture that must necessarily be kept at a negative temperature. Then it will be possible to cause coagulation of unwanted compounds. Then just filter them out. When holding certain products at low temperatures, you can see the separation of fat, which also takes place in the case of alcohol cryoextraction of hemp oil. How exactly do the individual stages of this process proceed?

Preparation for alcohol cryoextraction

Like any process, alcohol cryoextraction also requires proper preparation for performing individual steps. At the beginning, we should take care of preparing an appropriate polar solvent. For this purpose, it is recommended to use ethanol, which at low temperatures acts gently and does not damage the raw material. Theoretically, it would be possible to use gases such as propane, butane or carbon dioxide. In fact, however, they cause excessive dissolution of the plant material, so a safer solution is to bet on ethanol. The process of alcohol cryoextraction of oil requires specific actions. They are:

1. Maintain a negative temperature

Achieving and maintaining a temperature below zero is not as easy as it might seem. It is pointed out that the absolute minimum is -20 degrees Celsius. At the same time, it is indicated to try to achieve a temperature of up to -80 degrees, which significantly increases the efficiency of alcohol cryoextraction. In order to maintain the temperature, it is worth betting on various freezers and coolers. At the same time, the cooling time should be at least 24 hours, so we must be able to permanently maintain such low temperature values. If we do this correctly, we can move on to the filtering stage.

2. Filtering in the process of alcohol cryoextraction of oil

In the filtering process, special vacuums are used to push the frozen mixture through special filters. The key element of filtration is time. The process must proceed very quickly, because with the increase in temperature, lipids and waxes may mix back into the oil. That is why it is important to constantly maintain a low temperature. If we do this, pushing the frozen mixture will result in the possibility of separating compounds that we want to reject.

3. Repeating certain processes

A single pass of the mixture through the filters is usually not enough and this process requires repetition. As a rule, the process of alcohol cryoextraction proceeds more smoothly if we deal with smaller batches of product at once. However, obtaining a clean final product requires repeating the activities to be sure that we have managed to remove all unfavorable compounds. Without a shadow of a doubt, it can be said that the process of alcohol cryoextraction is necessary in hemp extraction, if we care about obtaining the highest quality product.