CBD Oil and Hemp Extracts
CBD Oil and other medicinal Hemp Extracts are emerging as an important new plant extract widely used as a supplement, medicine, or a manufacturing ingredient.
CBD Oil is a type of medicinal cannabis oil extracted from hemp or other cannabis plant flowers and used therapeutically in humans and animals. Unlike most medicinal cannabis products, CBD Oil contains low levels of THC and may be derived from hemp, meaning it is more easily grown, processed, marketed and distributed than other cannabis products.
What is CBD Oil?
CBD Oil is a hemp extract rich in Cannabidiol and other medicinal compounds. CBD Oil is most often extracted from high CBD hemp flower. The product is often diluted with other food oils (such as hemp oil, olive oil, coconut oil etc) to produce a CBD oil blend which can be consumed in a variety of dose forms such as CBD Oil Tinctures, and other CBD Products.
CBD Oil vs Hemp Oil vs Hemp Seed Oil
CBD Oil is another word for hemp oil – an extract of hemp flowers, leaves and other components which is typically rich in CBD.
Hemp Seed Oil, in contrast, is the food oil expressed from hemp seeds. It contains negligible quantities of CBD, THC and other cannabinoids but is rich in omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids and is highly nutritious. Hemp Seed Oil is sometimes called a superfood and has comparable qualities to fish oil, flax oil and some other nutritional oils.
Read more about CBD Oil vs Hemp Oil vs Hemp Seed Oil
How is CBD Oil Made?
CBD Oil is extracted from hemp flower and plant material. CBD Oil is extracted using a solvent such as ethanol or supercritical carbon dioxide. The extracted crude hemp oil is further refined to remove impurities such as waxes and pigments. This increases the purity of CBD and improves clarity, flavour and stability.
The type of hemp and the part of the hemp plant used for extraction have a major impact on the quality and yield of CBD oil.
What is the best Hemp for CBD Oil Production?
While CBD oil can be extracted from many varieties of hemp, the ideal hemp for CBD oil production has the following characteristics:
- Large flowers
- High resin content in flowers
- High CBD content in resin
- Low THC content in resin
- High yield of flower per acre
- Sinsemilla – only female flowers and no seeds
- Distinctive, desirable floral bouquet
- Attractive cannabinoid profile – minor cannabinoids may be significant
- Good production in organic systems with zero pesticide use
- Resistant to mould and common pests and diseases
- Easy to harvest
In practice, that means a drug-type cannabis plant with large flower heads CBD:THC ratio of 35:1 or more, which allows 10% CBD content of the flower and other extraction material while keeping THC under 0.3%, without requiring dilution with stem and stalk which contain little CBD.
Over the last few years a number of high CBD hemp cultivars have been cultivated with these goals in mind.
What is CBD Oil used for?
CBD Oil can be used in the manufacture of CBD Oil products, or it can be further refined to CBD Distillate or CBD isolate for use as a manufacturing ingredient.
CBD can also be used directly, or to manufacture CBD Oil concentrates such as CBD Budder or CBD Shatter.
Miscellaneous CBD Concentrates
CBD Oil can be processed in to various craft, consumer and recreational products.
CBD Concentrates:
- CBD Budder
- CBD Shatter
- CBD Wax
CBD Oil Products
CBD oil products are widely used to infused CBD medicines, supplements, foods and beverages.
Crude oil can be taken directly or used in edible or topical products.
The refined oil is used as an ingredient to manufacture CBD Oil products.
CBD Oil can also be further refined through distillation to produce CBD Distillate.
CBD can also be further purified using chromatography and crystallisation to produce purified 99%+ cannabidiol crystals known as CBD isolate.
Refined CBD Oil is used in the manufacture of CBD Oil products such as as CBD Oil Tinctures, CBD Oil Capsules, CBD Oil Gelcaps, CBD Oil Vaporisers, CBD Oil Powders, CBD Oil Suppositories, and other CBD Products.
Types of CBD Oil and Hemp Extracts
CBD Oil and other hemp extracts are classified by their method of extraction or by it’s stage of processing.
Types of CBD Oil – by Extraction Method
- CO2 extracted CBD Oil
- Ethanol extracted CBD Oil
- Butane extracted CBD Oil
- Etc
CBD Oil and hemp extracts are also classified by their stage of processing, from crude oil through to refined products
CBD Oil Types – Stage of Processing
- Crude CBD Oil
- Winterised CBD Oil
- Refined/Clarified CBD Oil
- CBD Oil Distillate
- CBD Isolate
CBD Oil – importance of hemp inputs
The type of plant material (eg: from flower, whole plant, etc) and the variety of hemp are other important factors in the quality and composition of a CBD oil product.
Note that the CBD content of an oil varies with the source material – high CBD (>10%) flower will produce the best quality CBD oils. Low CBD (<5%) will produce lower quality CBD oils which require further refinement to produce a premium product. For this reason, CBD isolate is widely produced where product quality is poor. Because CBD isolate lacks the other cannabinoids and terpenes found in CBD oil it does not provide the same medicinal effect (see the Entourage Effect).
CBD Oil by plant material processed
- CBD from hemp flower
- CBD oil from flower trim
- CBD oil from whole plant
- CBD oil from stalk, stem and seed
- Etc
CBD Oil classification by hemp cultivar
The biggest factor impacting the chemical composition of CBD oil and hemp extracts is the type of hemp used for extraction.
While any type of hemp can be used for extraction, the best CBD oils come from high CBD hemp cultivars specifically cultivated for high yields, large flowers, high resin content and high CBD:THC ratios.
Read more about medicinal high CBD hemp cultivars.
Medicinal Compounds in CBD Oil and Hemp Extracts
CBD Oil is further classified by it’s composition, particularly the presence and ratios of cannabinoids.
Full Spectrum CBD Oil
CBD Oil is often described as being “Full spectrum”, which implies the presence of a wide range multiple cannabinoids including, CBD, THC, some minor cannabinoids and terpenes. Note that by definition, CBD isolate or zero THC hemp extracts are not full spectrum.
Broad Spectrum CBD Oil
Broad Spectrum CBD Oil is another marketing term which is used to designate CBD Oil that contains a wide spectrum of cannabinoids. You may encounter Broad Spectrum CBD Distillate which is a by-product of CBD distillation. One fraction of distillation results in high CBD, minimising other ingredients. Other compounds such as minor cannabinoids, THC and terpenes are at elevated levels in the other fractions. This may be an excellent source of minor cannabinoids and other medicinal compounds.
THC Free CBD Oil
It is possible to remove most of the THC from CBD oil using chromatography. This process is expensive and requires toxic chemicals such as pentane or hexane, but makes it easier to market and distribute CBD oil products. THC Free CBD Distillate and CBD Isolate are other options where a low THC level is required. It is difficult to remove all THC to the point that these products won’t show up on drug testing of products or people, so care should be taken when using these products in certain situations.
Non-Solvent Hemp Extracts and Concentrates
Hemp can be processed by a number of methods to concentrate CBD and other cannabinoids.
While solvent extraction is most popular and economical at scale, other methods produce distinctive products with medicinal value and consumer appeal.
This includes solvent free extraction methods, water/hash methods, and other concentrates which can be derived from these products or from CBD oils and hemp extracts.
CBD Hemp Kief
The simplest CBD concentrate – Kief from high CBD hemp may contain 10% to 30%+ CBD. Kief is produced mechanically during harvesting and processing, or using special equipment. It is the powder from the trichomes or resin glands which contains CBD and other desirable compounds.
They are easily concentrated using mesh screens/filters or using simple separation systems which use water to separate the kief from other plant material.
Kief may be used directly, or processed into hash, or extracted using similar methods to flower.
CBD Hemp Hash
CBD Hemp Hash can be produced by collecting, concentrating and compressing kief into a solid form.
Hash may be used directly, or further extracted or refined to produce other products.
CBD Hemp Concentrates
The development of CBD Oil and Hemp Extraction has produced a number of craft style extracts which are becoming popular as finished products and may be accessable for patients looking ofr medicinal hemp products.
Many of these are more of a consumer/recreational product and their naming and composition is sometimes inaccurate.
Nonetheless these products can be simple to manufacture and are often available in hemp dispensaries and other retail outlets.
CBD Hemp Concentrates
- CBD Hemp Wax – CBD hemp wax is a CBD oil whipped to produce a soft, malleable concentrate
- CBD Hemp Shatter – CBD hemp shatter is produced from a butane extract of high CBD hemp and is a clear, amber solid.
- CBD Hemp RSO – an isopropyl alcohol extract of hemp (Naptha may also be used – not recommended due to toxicity)
- CBD Hemp Rosin – Rosin is produced using heat and pressure rather than a solvent to extract. It is similar in composition to CBD oil
