SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF CANNABINOIDS FOR THE EFFICIENT PRODUCTION OF CANNABIS PRODUCTS

09/06/2021

Discover how to extract the most common cannabinoids in Cannabis for the responsible, efficient and professional production of medicinal cannabis and cannabis products as regulation and quality control gain growing importance along with the number of players in the marketplace.

SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF CANNABINOIDS FOR THE EFFICIENT PRODUCTION OF CANNABIS PRODUCTS

Cannabis sativa has a long history as a medicinal plant, likely dating back more than two millennia. Nowadays, an increasing number of scientific studies demonstrate the efficiency of cannabinoids in the medical treatment of several conditions such as pain, spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, nausea, posttraumatic stress disorder, cancer, epilepsy, cachexia, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, and degenerative neurological conditions.

Understanding the properties of cannabis and how to extract the most common cannabinoids is key for the responsible, efficient and professional production of medicinal cannabis and cannabis products, especially as regulation and quality control gain growing importance along with the number of players in the marketplace.

THC and CBD in Cannabis to obtain high-quality cannabis products and effective medical treatments

More than 480 active compounds have been isolated in cannabis and one-third belongs to the cannabinoids family. THC and CBD are the most common and most studied cannabinoids, as the levels of these two components have a strong influence on the effects of medical products derived from cannabis.

Respectively, the delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) is known to have psychoactive properties and cannabidiol (CBD) is known for its medicinal potential. As a matter of fact, THC is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, being responsible for the stimulation of specific receptors in the brain that causes several effects and alterations such as reduced pain and inflammation, increased appetite, nausea, and insomnia.

On the other hand, CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, meaning that it doesn't cause psychotropic effects. An increasing number of studies demonstrate its efficiency in relieving symptoms of anxiety, inflammation, pain, and the treatment of several neurological diseases. In 2018, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved the first cannabidiol (CBD)-based medication to treat seizure disorders. CBD can also be turned into an oil for use as a healing salve.

The importance of the efficient Cannabinoids extraction and analysis

The concentration of active compounds in cannabis depends on many factors that range from variety, age, tissue type, growing conditions up to harvest time and storage conditions. As countries throughout the whole world have legalized recreational and medicinal cannabis, testing cannabis products is required both for labeling and quality control.

For instance, in most European countries there is no upper limit for CBD, but maximum limits of THC are set and vary between 0.1 and 1%. In the United States, testing cannabis and cannabis products for potency is required, several regulations and pharmacopeial reference methods are in place.

Within this context, the extraction and analysis of the most common cannabinoids ensure the quality of the cannabis products to meet both legal requirements and consumers' needs. Some medical patients may want a strain with a high CBD:THC ratio, while adult-use consumers may request the opposite.

The efficient extraction of cannabis oil samples for further potency, pesticide and heavy metals analytical testing is crucial for producers, manufacturers and laboratories analyzing cannabis products in an expanding and increasingly competitive market.

SER 158 for a fully automatic solvent extraction of cannabinoids in Cannabis according to international standards

The VELP SER 158 - Automatic Solvent extractor is the ideal solution to extract cannabis oil sample matrices for further analysis by HPLC.

The SER 158 performs hot solvent extraction according to the Randall method, which is five times faster than the traditional Soxhlet and works in accordance with international standards such as AOAC, ISO, EPA, APHA, UNI.

Engineered to work fully automatically and unattended, the SER 158 maximizes productivity and requires minimum operator time leading to high-throughput and optimized processes in the laboratory.

The safe and powerful heating combined with advanced software and security processes guarantees reproducible extraction processes. The Cloud connectivity option to VELP Ermes ensures software updates, real-time monitoring and control, notifications and enhanced service support.

Discover more about the SER 158

Download the Application Note

Discover more about Cannabis products and how to perform the solvent extraction of cannabinoids according to the Randall Method for efficient and optimized analyses.

Download the Application Note on Solvent Extraction of Cannabinoids