Extraction

Extraction is the manufacturing step that separates cannabinoids, terpenes and other desired compounds from raw hemp plant material into a concentrated form.

Common approaches use carbon dioxide, ethanol, hydrocarbons such as butane, or oils and water, each with different selectivity, cost and cleanup requirements. The output is a crude extract that is typically refined further through winterization, filtration, distillation and, for some products, THC remediation. The choice of method influences which compounds come through, how much post-processing is needed and which residual solvents must be tested for.

For a reader, the extraction method is mostly context; it is not a quality result. What the certificate of analysis for the finished product shows, including its cannabinoid profile and its residual solvent, pesticide and heavy metal screens, is a more direct measure of what the process produced. Terms like full-spectrum, broad-spectrum and isolate describe the composition after extraction and refining, and they can be verified against the cannabinoid section of the certificate.