As the hemp industry evolves, new types of products continue developing. One category of products are distillates. These are a viscous material, often light golden in color, without taste or smell.
Extracting specific compounds to customize distillates
Distillates, as the name implies, contain one or more hemp extracts, in a concentrated form. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is the most well-known. It’s prized for its potential benefits in treating everything from anxiety and depression to acne and heart disease. However, hemp distillates can also contain other extracts, such as cannabigerol, more commonly known as CBG. A final distillate can even contain a host of compounds found in the hemp plant. To create the distillates, they’re first processed.
Preparing hemp for distillation
Much like how you create a clean tasting vodka, hemp distillation involves separating out compounds first. After, a final product gets made. Before distillation, undergoes a specific preparation. It first undergoes drying, grinding, and extraction using proper equipment. This results in CBD oil. From there, distillation separates out, and captures, the desired compounds.
Getting to the process
In the case of a spirits distillery, distillation occurs with heat. It’s used to evaporate off the alcohol, which has a lower boiling point than water. The alcohol is then chilled and condensed, resulting in a more potent liquor. Hemp distillation incorporates a variety of processes. This separates compounds such as cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, fats, and waxes. It’s not a straight one-to-one situation like with our vodka. Each of the substances distilled from hemp has its place in a diverse number of products to buy.
Thin film distillation
A process called thin film distillation can take the CBD further in the process. A rotating wiper takes the oil and distributes it to a film on the inner surface of a heated pipe. To prevent the heat from damaging the CBD, vacuum pressure lowers the boiling point. This process speeds up the evaporation of components unwanted in the final product.
Rotary evaporation
For small scale operations, rotary evaporation creates a thin film on the bottom of a rotating flask which rests in a warm bath. Both rotation and heat help speed up evaporation to further distill your extract.
Other distillation options
Other processes available include falling film distillation, which lets the CBD oil drain down the inside of a heated column. It is then collected on a chilled condenser. Wiped film distillation uses mechanical wipers to spread a thin layer of oil across a heated, evaporative surface. This process creates a high-potency product. It’s golden in color with a cannabinoid content of 90 percent or higher.
Singling out cannabidiol
Of particular interest in the hemp industry is the extraction of cannabidiol. First a solvent such as ethanol works to extract the CBD. Heat is then applied to boil off the ethanol. Once the ethanol is gone, you’re left with the hemp components. Further distillation is necessary to extract pure CBD. You still need to pull it from the remaining chlorophyll and terpenes. These processes can create a product that focuses on a single compound or a variety of compounds. You can even create a new product by making your own mix.
Get high-quality distillate with Arbor Vita8
Offering a full complement of services and resources to hemp farmers, Arbor Vita8 is committed to crafting the best distillates on the market. Through trial-and-error, experience, and industry knowledge, our team understands the process of extraction and distillation. We help to ensure your distillate is what the market wants. Contact us today to learn more about our complete seed-to-sale assortments of services.
