Cryogenic ethanol for CBD oil extraction
There are few methods to extract CBD oil from cannabis plant that are considered safe to use for consumers products: supercritical CO2 extraction or solvent-based extraction – ethanol. Ethanol is a flammable liquid commonly known as grain or ethyl alcohol, which is used to produce gasoline, paints, solvents, food additives, and beauty products. Ethanol is also used in the pharmaceutical industry for many years. As a plant-based solvent, many experts believe ethanol extraction is the most efficient method to use for cannabis. Cryogenic ethanol extraction is a profitable method to extract CBD oil. It allows to shorten production time, by skipping time-consuming steps in the process.
How does ethanol extraction work?
During ethanol extraction, plant material is soaked in ethanol for a period to separate plant’s cannabinoids and other compounds from the plant matter. Soaking time will depend on the ethanol temperature. As an alcohol, ethanol has a “polarity problem”. It can dissolve cannabinoids, but also unwanted compounds as fats, waxes, chlorophylls, and other water-soluble compounds. These elements should not be included in the final product and therefore must be removed through a process called winterization.
The advantages of cryogenic ethanol extraction
By bringing ethanol to a sub-zero temperature (-40°C), the solvent will not extract waxes, fats, chlorophyll. Without the unwanted compounds being extracted, winterization step can be skipped in the process. The cryogenic ethanol extraction method reduces the extraction process from several days to just a few hours. CryoEXS designed by Devex, is a cost and time efficient solution that speeds up the extraction process by using cold ethanol. It allows to skip several steps, that must be followed during other extraction methods. Cryogenic ethanol makes the extraction process easily scalable because the production capacity can be doubled. With cold ethanol, there is also no need for a pressurized system. This reduces explosion risk, making cold ethanol a safe way to extract CBD oil. Click here to read more about CBD oil extraction process.
