Full Spectrum CBD Extract – also often called crude extract. When processed extremely cold and well winterized it can be very high quality oil. It is critical that organic, very clean hemp flower is used to make the extract because any herbicides, pesticides, and heavy metals in the plant will be in the extract. Products that are labeled as full spectrum should still contain all of the minor Cannabinoids (over 100 – like CBG and CBN) and all of the Terpenes (over 100) and hundreds of other nutrients. There are estimated to be over 500 active ingredients in Full spectrum hemp extract. This oil has an earthy taste that can vary depending on the terpene profile. Full spectrum oil fully supports the Entourage effect – to be covered in a future article. All products must contain less than .03% THC to be legal to ship in the USA.
Distillate – is oil that has been ran through short path or or wiped film distillation equipment to “Clean Up” the extract – it does remove chlorophyll, but also can reduce some of the terpenes and other minor cannabinoids. It concentrates the CBD and gives the oil a golden honey color. Products made with distillate are typically labeled as Broad Spectrum since it still has some of the other cannabinoids. This oil has little to no taste because much of the chlorophyll and terpenes have been removed. All products must still contain less than .03% THC to be legal.
Isolate – or sometimes called crystal. This process takes the Distillate and crystalizes the CBD from it so that it contains only the CBD molecules. CBD and CBG are the most recognized cannabinoids that crystallizes in solution, allowing this process of purifying the CBD. Once the crystals are cleaned it is pure white and only one module is remaining – the CBD. It can be labeled as Zero THC since it is reduced to pure CBD. It has no taste and is often added to products achieve higher levels of CBD, Where products that have some amount of THC will limit the amount of CBD that can be put in a product. The Entourage effect is totally missing with isolate or pure CBD products.
There is another way to make THC Free products. Hemp Distillate can be run through chromatography separation equipment to remove the THC while leaving many of the other cannabinoids. This is a good broad spectrum alternative for anyone that is subject to THC testing with their job.
We believe that to know exactly what you are consuming, you should use a product that has full labs for potency, unwanted chemicals like pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals, and residuals from processing. It is standard in the herbal industry to standardize your product to the main active ingredients in the product as all crops are not the same! A product that claims only a certain amount of Hemp Extract can widely vary in how much CBD is actually in the product.