Comprehensive Guide To CBD Extraction: Where CBD Comes From

CBD products are a big deal these days. Many still wonder, though, exactly what CBD is and where it comes from.

Here’s the simple explanation. CBD (cannabidiol) is a naturally-occurring compound known as a cannabinoid, found in plants belonging to the Cannabis sativa family. The two most important members of that family are cannabis and hemp, and the two most important cannabinoids are psychoactive THC and CBD.

Both THC and CBD provide apparent and impressive health and wellness benefits. The cannabinoids can easily be consumed by smoking marijuana, which is harvested from the cannabis plant.

However, the cannabidiol used to create CBD products is generally sourced from hemp plants, and it has to be extracted from the plants before it can be used. (A small number of people do smoke raw hemp, but it’s not a common consumption method. And just like smoking marijuana, smoking hemp is illegal in the UK.)

There are five common approaches to CBD extraction. Only one of them, carbon dioxide extraction, produces the safe. highest-quality cannabidiol that’s used by reputable manufacturers. CO₂ extraction is also the most complicated and expensive technique.

Other extraction methods are easier, and some can even be done at home. But they each have flaws; most either produce lower-quality cannabidiol or are dangerous to attempt.

Whether you’ve decided to try creating your own CBD products or are just curious about the subject, here’s what you need to know.

Why Is CBD Sourced from Hemp?

The first question many people ask is why CBD is extracted from hemp and not from cannabis. The answer requires a bit of explanation.

Hemp and cannabis plants are very similar botanically, but there’s one important difference. Cannabis contains large amounts of psychoactive THC and very little cannabidiol; it’s just the opposite for hemp, which has high CBD levels and very low levels of THC.

That’s why people smoke marijuana to get high, but only use CBD products for their apparent medical benefits. There’s simply not enough THC in hemp to get users intoxicated. In fact, the use of cannabidiol extracted from cannabis is illegal in the UK for just that reason. (You may find CBD products sourced from cannabis in some nations where weed is legal.)

Governments that allow the sale of cannabidiol products go another step to ensure that users don’t experience the mind-altering effects associated with marijuana; they limit how much THC can be in CBD that’s legal for sale and use. In Britain, the limit is approximately 0.2%, far below the amount that would make users high. (It’s 0.3% in most of Europe and the US).

So, here’s the short answer: CBD is extracted from hemp because it provides benefits without causing intoxication. But what does the low level of THC in cannabidiol do?

Types of CBD

When cannabidiol is extracted, it brings with it some of the other plant material found in hemp: small amounts of THC and other cannabinoids, terpenes, and additional compounds.

No effort is made to exclude those substances during the extraction, because they contribute to the effectiveness of CBD in what’s known as the “entourage effect.” Experts don’t know exactly what’s behind that effect, but it’s been proven to work.

Not everyone wants to ingest THC, though, even if the amount they’d be consuming won’t affect their perceptions or motor skills or knock them out. Some may be allergic to or react badly to the cannabinoid, while others could be afraid of failing a drug test (which is unlikely but can happen with regular use or heavy doses of CBD).

For that reason, three types of cannabidiol are used in CBD products.

• Full-spectrum CBD is the cannabidiol that’s initially extracted from hemp. It contains all of the plant material we’ve mentioned, including the low levels of THC, and it’s the most effective type of CBD because of the full entourage effect it provides.
• Broad-spectrum CBD is created by taking full-spectrum CBD and doing further extraction to remove its THC content. Traces of THC may still remain, however, and broad-spectrum cannabidiol isn’t quite as effective because the absence of THC lowers the entourage effect.
• CBD isolate goes through further processing to remove all plant material other than cannabidiol. It’s simply pure CBD, so there’s no entourage effect at all. But it definitely won’t trigger a drug test for cannabis use.

Full-spectrum CBD won’t get you high and is most effective, but for those who can’t (or won’t) consume THC, CBD isolate still provides most of the reported benefits delivered by the other types of cannabidiol.

Additional steps must be taken after extraction to create broad-spectrum CBD or isolate. That process is beyond the scope of this article, but the starting point is always extracting cannabidiol from hemp to create full-spectrum CBD.

Here’s how it’s done.

Options for CBD Extraction

There are five common ways that cannabidiol is removed from hemp. The first one we’ll discuss is far and away the method preferred by reputable producers.

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction

Using supercritical CO₂ extraction requires a strong commitment to producing high-quality CBD because the necessary equipment can cost well over £100,000. However, the best producers rely on this method because of its safety and the outstanding quality of the cannabidiol it extracts.

“Supercritical” is the key word here. When carbon dioxide is brought to high temperatures (above 31.1°C) at high pressure (1071 PSI or above), it enters what’s called a supercritical state in which it acts as both a gas and a liquid. That makes it an ideal solvent, able to extract compounds without damaging them.

Supercritical CO₂ is passed through hemp in a closed chamber, allowing the carbon dioxide to “capture” the cannabinoids and other desired compounds. When the CO₂ is sent to another chamber, the carbon dioxide rises to the top and is removed for future use. The CBD stays at the bottom, where it can be retrieved and distilled.

This process can be adjusted and repeated to retrieve just the desired cannabinoids and terpenes; in that way, the method can also be used to extract THC from cannabis. Supercritical CO₂ extraction is used in other industries as well; for example, it’s how caffeine is removed from coffee.

A similar process, known as subcritical CO₂ extraction, allows for the use of carbon dioxide at lower temperatures and pressure. It’s less efficient and takes longer, and subcritical extraction also results in smaller yields and a slightly lower quality product. Companies that can afford to use the supercritical method almost always choose it.

Pros of Supercritical CO₂ Extraction

• Safe and clean process
• CO2 is a completely non-toxic solvent
• High-quality and stable end product
• Ability to select a desired cannabinoid profile during extraction

Cons of Supercritical CO₂ Extraction

• Extremely expensive
• Requires a great deal of knowledge and experience

Liquid Solvent Extraction

Instead of using carbon dioxide as a solvent, this method utilizes liquids like butane, propane, ethanol, methanol, or ether.

This much less inexpensive process is messy and can be dangerous, depending on the solvent used. However, it requires no special equipment and can even be performed by consumers at home — although it can result in disaster if tried by inexperienced home “chemists.”

Decarboxylated hemp (heated in the oven to “activate” the cannabinoids) is soaked in the solvent for a period of time, to extract the cannabinoids (including CBD) along with terpenes and other plant material like chlorophyll. Unless alcohol is being used, the solvent is heated to trigger evaporation, leaving hemp extract behind.

That last stage is where major problems can arise; the vapor that’s produced by most solvents can catch fire or explode. The best approach for those trying to extract CBD from hemp at home is to use alcohol as a solvent. That will produce hemp tincture without any evaporation necessary.

Pros of Liquid Solvent Extraction

• Inexpensive
• Simple
• Creates a relatively high-quality product

Cons of Liquid Solvent Extraction

• Extremely dangerous unless alcohol is used as a solvent
• Plant material, particularly chlorophyll (which tastes bitter), can remain in the product
• Toxic residue can be left in the CBD if the extraction isn’t performed properly

Steam Distillation Extraction

This method can be used at home as well, but only if you have the specialized equipment required.

Hemp is placed into a special glass flask and steam is passed through the plant material to break it down. Cannabinoids and other compounds are captured by the steam, which is moved into a condenser tube, where the mixture is allowed to cool. When condensation is complete, this process creates water and CBD oil; distillation separates out the CBD oil for use.

Pros of Steam Distillation Extraction

• Safe process
• Safe and uncontaminated product

Cons of Steam Distillation Extraction

• Requires special equipment
• Requires expertise to maintain proper temperatures
• Requires much more raw hemp than other extraction methods

Vegetable Oil Extraction

This is another simple and safe way of extracting CBD from hemp at home, but the final product may be of lower quality and have a shorter shelf life than the cannabidiol extracted with other methods. Olive oil is the best oil to use to create CBD oil; coconut oil or butter are better choices if the goal is to make edibles with the extracted cannabidiol.

All that’s required is putting decarboxylated hemp into a pot or pan with the oil, and cooking it at 98°C for two hours. The oil that’s produced contains CBD, although at a lower concentration than other extraction methods produce. The final product can be used in the same ways that you’d consume or use commercially-produced CBD oil.

Pros of Vegetable Oil Extraction

• Inexpensive
• Safe
• Simple

Cons of Vegetable Oil Extraction

• Lower-quality final product
• Short shelf life
• Oil must be stored in a dark environment to prevent degradation

Dry Ice Extraction

The final method of CBD extraction is more time-consuming and requires more manual work, but it’s also safe and can be done at home. A small amount of easily-sourced equipment is also necessary; it’s the same equipment used to make hash from cannabis.

Small pieces of the hemp’s buds are placed into a bucket and covered with dry ice to freeze the resin containing CBD and other cannabinoids. After 3-5 minutes, the material is shaken over special mesh bags (which contain a series of fine mesh filters) to separate the frozen resin, which is collected and kept in sealed jars.

This process creates CBD hash, which can be smoked or vaped (but not in the UK, where that’s illegal), used in cooking, or added to beverages. It won’t be as pure as the CBD you buy in stores or from many online sources, but it will do the job.

Pros of Dry Ice Extraction

• Safe
• Relatively simple

Cons of Dry Ice Extraction

• Time-consuming and more work
• Final product isn’t as pure as CBD produced with other methods
• Dry ice can contaminate the final product if it isn’t food-grade

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