As the therapeutic use of cannabis continues to gain acceptance so too does a demand for safe and consistent products. Quality and consumer
safety begin with cultivation but are ultimately realized through the extraction process. Very few, if any, other cannabinoid extraction methods
can offer the medical grade purity and consistency of Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE). SFE is an organic chemistry procedure utilized for the separation of one component, the extractant, from a particular material, the matrix. SFE can either strip unwanted material from a product, such as the decaffeination of coffee, or collect a desired material, as is the case with CBD extract.
Although SFE is a highly sophisticated technique, the basic concepts can be explained as follows:
A fluid, most often carbon dioxide (CO2 ) as it is nontoxic, nonflammable and environmentally acceptable, is pressurized and heated to a specific condition where its material phase is not quite liquid and not quite gas. This condition is known as supercritical. The supercritical CO2 is then pumped into an extraction vessel where it quickly diffuses into a matrix and dissolves desired extractants. The supercritical CO2 and extracted material are then pumped to a separator where the pressure is reduced and the desired compound settles out. As the CO2 cools and depressurizes it enters a gas phase and leaves the extract without a trace.
