To understand extraction, initially two terms must be understood… Hydrophilic means that a molecule or substance is attracted to water, rather than repels it... Hydrophobic means a molecule tends to repel or fail to mix with water. Cannabinoids are hydrophobic due to their oily base, and as we all well know, oil and water do not mix. With that said, extraction is typically performed using a solvent so the molecules can be placed in suspension in the solvent as part of the extraction process. Examples of these solvents would be butane, carbon dioxide, and ethyl alcohol. There are many ways to extract, but to extract in volume it generally boils down to only two methods…supercritical CO2 or ethanol. The differences between extraction using carbon dioxide and ethanol involve polarity, bio-availability and ester formation.
Carbon dioxide is a liquid gas that only extracts the non-polar compounds of a plant. Carbon Dioxide also extracts heavy metals and pesticides from the plant biomass and concentrates their volume in the final extracted product. Hemp is a “bio-accumulator plant,” which means as it grows it removes and absorbs nutrients and any contaminants that are in the soil where they are grown. This would include heavy metals like arsenic, boron, cadmium, including pesticides. Caution is the operative word for this type of extraction. The use of carbon dioxide results in a very limited extraction of the plant. Since the extracts of carbon dioxide are non-polar; carbon dioxide extracts are not water-soluble. This plays a vital role in bio-availability. Since our bodies are 70% water, oils must be digested by different acids and enzymes to become active. During this digestion process, the active ingredients of the oils are degraded. Alcohol (Ethanol) is a solvent that is made as a result of plant fermentation and is a by-product of plants themselves. It is a solvent made “by the plants for the plants”. Alcohol is also the only solvent that maintains the original chemical ratios contained in the plant. This is due to alcohol extracting both water soluble and oil soluble components.
The CryoSonic™ Extraction Process uses pure ethanol (similar to the 200 proof alcohol that is sold in liquor stores) and sub-zero temperatures combined with Ultrasonic sound waves to extract all the compounds found in the plant…. exactly as they exist in the plant. All 120+ cannabinoids, amino acids, proteins, terpenes, etc. are extracted and maintained in their original form for maximum therapeutic effect.
Since alcohol is both non-polar and polar, it can dissolve a much wider range of molecules, that includes all of the plant's medicinal oils, polysaccharides, carboxylic acids and other beneficial compounds. In other words, alcohol dissolves both water and oil soluble compounds found in the plant while carbon dioxide can only dissolve the oil soluble compounds. In terms of keeping the plant whole and together, alcohol is the only solvent for the job and ONLY this process results in this advanced FCE™ extraction!
The Cryosonic™ extraction process, in part, uses highly specialized equipment incorporating ultrasonic electric generators used to power titanium reactor transducers. Piezoelectric crystals convert the electrical signal into a mechanical sonic vibration which is preserved, amplified and transferred to the hemp biomass during the extraction process. The alternating ultrasonic pressure forms microscopic vacuum bubbles in the mixture causing a reaction known as “cavitation.” This creates an immense amount of energy in the cavitation field, disrupting the biomass at a molecular level which causes the cell walls of the biomass to collapse and release all the compounds (cannabinoids, lipids, proteins, etc.) contained in the plant. During the extraction process, hemp biomass, maintained in a cryogenic state is broken up at a molecular level via sonication and all components in the plants are emulsified into a solution. In doing so, these tiny particles of matter, measured at 100nm or less, are afforded enhanced bioavailability and absorb easier because of their small size. Ultimately, research has shown nanosized particles obtain absorption rates as high as 100 percent. With nanosized cannabinoids, when the consumer takes a 20mg dose, they can absorb the entire dose. This increased bioavailability results in achieving the same results or better using a much smaller dose when compared to doses delivered by other conventional methods. “In other words… you get more bang for your buck” and because nano particles are more easily absorbed, you experience faster onset than usually expected.