What It Is and How it Works
This is the process which we remove the beneficial oils from the hemp plant. The typical gaseous state of CO2 is altered by applying pressure and heat. The new liquid-gas hybrid state is then able to gently extract CBD and other oils from the hemp plant. Once the solution returns to room conditions, the CO2 leaves the solution, like a soda going flat after its opened. The extraction with pure carbon dioxide provides the final product with no solvent as carbon dioxide is evolved and thus removed during depressurization (Tyśkiewicz 2018). This final product contains all the oils from the plant including CBD, CBG, CBC, CBN, CBT, terpenes, and flavonoids. All these oils have benefits on their own, however together they act synergistically, also known as the entourage effect.
Ethanol and Butane/Propane extraction methods use chemicals you wouldn’t want to ingest. Additionally, these extraction methods destroy some of the terpenes in the extract, potentially making the final product less robust in flavor.
The positives of CO2 extraction coupled with the negatives of other extraction methods leads to the conclusion that the consumer should be aware of what extraction method was used in creating the CBD that they are consuming. At best, they are consuming an inferior product with the older extraction methods, at worst, the product has cancer causing byproducts and residual solvents. So please, research where a company’s products were made and what extraction process was used.
Sources
Tyśkiewicz K, Konkol M, Rój E. The Application of Supercritical Fluid Extraction in Phenolic Compounds Isolation from Natural Plant Materials. Molecules. 2018;23(10):2625. Published 2018 Oct 12. doi:10.3390/molecules23102625
