AlpineVapor
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Recently there has been a lot of talk of supercritical CO2 extraction and "solvent-free" concentrates. The terminology here can be a little tricky, so we decided to write a blog post elucidating the process and benefits of supercritical CO2 extraction in cannabis concentrates.
Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions!
Advantages of CO2 Supercritical Fluid Extraction in Cannabis Concentrates
In recent years, Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) technologies have seen increasing applications in many fields. CO2 SFE is a gentle, clean and precise method of extraction well suited for pharmaceutical and food applications where purity is a priority. For Example, in antioxidant extraction, CO2 SFE is used because it can create odorless, flavorless extracts while leaving antioxidants intact. CO2 SFE is advantageous because it allows precise control of the solvent strength, provides increased yields, is less time-consuming, and does not require the use of toxic solvents, allowing for the production of maximum purity, solvent-free concentrates.
Supercritical Fluid Extraction works by raising the temperature and pressure of a fluid until it becomes supercritical, when it begins to exhibit behaviors of both gasses and a liquids. Under these conditions, the density of a supercritical fluid can be modulated by changing the temperature/pressure of the system. Since density is directly related to solubility, manipulating the temperature of the system allows for exacting control of the point of solubility. By controlling the temperature/density of a fluid, we can tune its solvent strength, allowing the CO2 to mimic the solubility of other (more toxic) solvents, such as butane, hexane, or isopropyl alcohol.
Supercritical Fluid Extraction is a relatively new technology that is superior to traditional extraction methods, which can be time consuming, laborious, inefficient, and dangerous; because the solubility of supercritical co2 is controllable, it is possible to achieve “higher selectivies [and] shorter extraction times, without the use of dangerous solvents” (King 2000). Additionally, since Co2 is a gas at room temperature, “once the extraction is completed, and the system is decompressed, a complete elimination of CO2 is achieved without residues and the extract remains free of solvent” (Herrero,Cifuentes,Ibañez 2006)
Citations
1 M. Herrero, A. Cifuentes, E. Ibañez (2006) SUB- AND SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION OF FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS FROM DIFFERENT NATURAL SOURCES: PLANTS, FOOD-BY-PRODUCTS, ALGAE AND MICROALGAE, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry Vol 98, 1, 136-148
2 King, J.W. (2000). Advances in critical fluid technology for food processing, Food Science & Technology Today. 14, 186-191.
www.alpinevapor.com/blog for more!
Recently there has been a lot of talk of supercritical CO2 extraction and "solvent-free" concentrates. The terminology here can be a little tricky, so we decided to write a blog post elucidating the process and benefits of supercritical CO2 extraction in cannabis concentrates.
Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions!
Advantages of CO2 Supercritical Fluid Extraction in Cannabis Concentrates
In recent years, Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) technologies have seen increasing applications in many fields. CO2 SFE is a gentle, clean and precise method of extraction well suited for pharmaceutical and food applications where purity is a priority. For Example, in antioxidant extraction, CO2 SFE is used because it can create odorless, flavorless extracts while leaving antioxidants intact. CO2 SFE is advantageous because it allows precise control of the solvent strength, provides increased yields, is less time-consuming, and does not require the use of toxic solvents, allowing for the production of maximum purity, solvent-free concentrates.
Supercritical Fluid Extraction works by raising the temperature and pressure of a fluid until it becomes supercritical, when it begins to exhibit behaviors of both gasses and a liquids. Under these conditions, the density of a supercritical fluid can be modulated by changing the temperature/pressure of the system. Since density is directly related to solubility, manipulating the temperature of the system allows for exacting control of the point of solubility. By controlling the temperature/density of a fluid, we can tune its solvent strength, allowing the CO2 to mimic the solubility of other (more toxic) solvents, such as butane, hexane, or isopropyl alcohol.
Supercritical Fluid Extraction is a relatively new technology that is superior to traditional extraction methods, which can be time consuming, laborious, inefficient, and dangerous; because the solubility of supercritical co2 is controllable, it is possible to achieve “higher selectivies [and] shorter extraction times, without the use of dangerous solvents” (King 2000). Additionally, since Co2 is a gas at room temperature, “once the extraction is completed, and the system is decompressed, a complete elimination of CO2 is achieved without residues and the extract remains free of solvent” (Herrero,Cifuentes,Ibañez 2006)
Citations
1 M. Herrero, A. Cifuentes, E. Ibañez (2006) SUB- AND SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION OF FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS FROM DIFFERENT NATURAL SOURCES: PLANTS, FOOD-BY-PRODUCTS, ALGAE AND MICROALGAE, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry Vol 98, 1, 136-148
2 King, J.W. (2000). Advances in critical fluid technology for food processing, Food Science & Technology Today. 14, 186-191.
www.alpinevapor.com/blog for more!
