CBD is an oil that is extracted mainly from hemp, and there are various ways to extract the oil from the plant. In this article, we will look closer at the different methods used to make CBD oil – or more correctly, to extract it.
The CO 2 method
The method that is probably the most effective is the CO2 method, but it is also the most expensive method. What happens in this process is that CO2 gas is compressed and cooled and then stored at a special pressure. The pressure causes the gas to become both gas and liquid at the same time.
After that, it heats up to gas, and this is where hemp comes into the picture in this method. The gas passes through hemp in something called a close-loop extractor, and in this way, you get pure CBD oil. For it to work, it is important that pressure and temperature are controlled and are exactly right in all different parts of the process. With the C02 method, it becomes a CBD oil with very high quality.
The ethanol method and the olive oil method
Another method of extracting CBD from the plant is to use ethanol. It is a method that has some drawbacks. One of the biggest is that ethanol is water soluble, which leads to chlorophyll dissolving and following with the oil, and it gives it a bitter and grass-like taste. Chlorophyll can be removed. No complicated methods are required, but they increase the cost and also reduce the power of CBD oil if the chlorophyll is removed afterward.
A similar way to extract CBD is to use olive oil instead of ethanol. The oil is then heated and the vapors are filtered through the plant. Here you avoid the problem of chlorophyll, but the oil that is created becomes a little weaker.
Butane and hexane method (Rick Simpson method)
Rick Simpson created a method to extract CBD himself after he could not get it through his doctor. What he did was use different hydrocarbons that have a low boiling point. Using them is easy and cheap and the oil that is created is of the purest form. Unfortunately, there is the disadvantage that open steam is created during the process, steam that is flammable and creates a great risk of explosions.
