Producers of cannabidiol (CBD) and other botanical extracts from hemp know how crucial it is, to begin with, a premium raw material.
Quality, safety, and transparency in the final botanical extract depend on more than just using high-grade biomass in the first place.
In order to provide your hemp extraction company services provider with the finest possible raw material, it is important to follow the proper pre-processing stages.
The processing and extraction skills of your tolling partner are also important. You may increase production to fulfill the demand for your CBD and herbal extracts and provide the finest end product to your consumers more quickly and easily with their assistance.
It is difficult to overstate the significance of correctly treated biomass in the herbal extraction process, whether you are a hemp farmer looking to create your own branded extracts or a CBD entrepreneur producing a whole product line.
Let's examine what it takes to turn your botanical biomass into premium hemp extract and learn the best practices for doing so.
GROWING AND HARVESTING HEMP BIOMASS
Growers choose hemp seed carefully to ensure they get plants that thrive in their climate and soil, are high in CBD, and low in THC. Limiting crop stress and harvesting and handling biomass with care because of the strict THC limits, is crucial.
Possible causes of increased THC content in hemp plants include:
Extreme conditions in the weather, whether they be cold, hot, or wet, may cause a great deal of stress. Many different kinds of seeds were chosen.
To decide when to harvest, some farmers take CBD level readings from weekly samples. A variation of only 1% in CBD concentration may have a huge influence on ultimate product yield, which in turn can affect ROI by thousands of dollars for as little as an acre of hemp, therefore testing can be rather expensive. The timing of the harvest depends on the product's growth and development, as well as the weather.
Manual equipment like scythes and machetes is used by many farmers during the harvest. Production areas of five acres or more are eligible for mechanical harvesting using a modified combine.
If you want a high-quality, cannabinoid- and terpene-rich finished product, the ideal drying and curing temperatures are between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit with around 60% humidity. It takes roughly three to five days for hemp to dry, depending on the humidity level desired. After being dried, hemp biomass is put through a chipper to reduce in size before being sent to a toll processor for extraction and further processing.
QUALIFYING HEMP FOR CBD EXTRACTION
To guarantee that hemp products stay within the USD A's 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol threshold, licensed hemp producers must engage with state or tribal departments of agriculture, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture if necessary, to conduct the necessary THC testing.
Farmers get a letter of harvest permission from their local, state, or tribal government after paying for testing (and any necessary retests). Any biomass that registers over the threshold in a state's laboratory is considered illegal and must be destroyed; it cannot be used in the production of CBD.
Hemp farmers and CBD oil manufacturers that engage with tolling partners are obligated to provide.
A letter of authorization to harvest from the appropriate state or tribal agricultural office or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
With a high-performance liquid chromatography study showing a THC level of less than 0.30%, the product in question has been issued a certificate of analysis (HPLC).
The certificate of analysis is necessary to demonstrate the biomass's compliance, and the information it provides on the biomass's potency may aid extraction professionals in planning for processing timeframes and expected product output.
IMPORTANT TESTS, ANALYSES, & CERTIFICATIONS
In addition to microbiological testing, a toll processor should have high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
Testing the identification and strength of desired elements like cannabinoids and terpenes may be done while procedures like ethanol-modified CO2 extraction successfully destroy germs and exclude mould from the final product. Some of these analyses may also be used to determine the types and amounts of pollutants present.
Oils that have been extracted may still contain traces of pesticides.
Lead, chromium, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury are all examples of heavy metals.
You should be able to supply your clients and end users with a reliable product and quality information by having your toll processor test and provide certificates of analysis for your CBD extract on a batch-by-batch basis.
You should also make sure your hemp processing services company is legitimate and recognized in the industry. Inquire about the availability of organic and other specialty certifications, as well as Emerald Test validation, if they are important to the markets where you want to sell your final formulations.