A quick explanation of three-stage cannabis refinement

The cannabis industry isn’t about just growing crops and shipping off raw biomass to a destination.

An often overlooked part of this industry is how the biomass gets converted into more concentrated raw materials, which are what almost any product we see on the shelves, stores and sites needs to start off.

There are generally three stages to the extraction/refinement process, each producing a substance that has widespread uses. A good extraction lab will manage these processes to very high standards, and will often produce all three products from the same batch of biomass.

In fact, the better facilities out there (here in Colombia and elsewhere) will often be tapped for third-party extraction agreements with other cannabis companies.

Here’s how each stage works:

Extraction (produces full-spectrum oil):

The extraction process is typically done with ethanol as a solvent. It is then filtered to remove the unnecessary fibers, waxes etc. from the mixture. After that, it is gently heated to the point where the alcohol evaporates out and the oil remains.

The result is a raw cannabis oil called “full-spectrum” oil. This is because the oil contains all the active ingredients present in the original biomass. This oil will also be rich in the terpenes that give off the highly recognizable cannabis fragrance, and will usually contain around 60 percent of the active ingredient.

Distillation (produces broad-spectrum oil):

The next step is to distill the raw oil, in order to concentrate the principal ingredient, for example, CBD. This leaves a “broad-spectrum” oil that still contains a lot of the original phyto-compounds, while concentrating the active ingredient to up to 80 percent, perhaps even more. The exact percentage as a minimum can be strictly controlled by the laboratory.

Crystallization (produces crystals):

Finally, this distilled oil can be further refined to produce crystals. The crystallization process in itself can have multiple stages to it.

These crystals, manufactured by the proper experts in the right setting, can reach purities of 98 percent or more, specifically measured, and are typically food-grade and pharmaceutical-grade in quality.

This last step is vitally important for many industries, since these crystals are now absolutely ideal for use in cannabis-based pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc.