The cannabis industry is in its infancy. Only now, with the legalization of medical marijuana and recreational marijuana in many states across the USA, is this crop coming out of the shadows and into the focus of established industry actors. In this booming industry, the largest growth is observed for concentrate and infused products. This puts outside pressure on extract manufacturers to deliver value added product at competitive prices. In their optimization projects, not only does the extraction method itself hold large potential for efficiency increases, but so too, does the pre-and post-processing of the material.<br/> <br/>This presentation will focus on such pre- and post-extraction steps and how they effect production quality, quantity and reproducibility. Particularly, precise control over particle size was found to have many benefits to extraction efficiency and product formulation. A range of methods from chemometic techinics to patient questionnaires have been used to study this previously overlooked aspect of cannabis production. The parameters having the greatest potential influence include mean particle size, particle size distribution, and potential changes in cannabinoid & terpene profiles that may be caused by the grinding system itself.

Grinding: The delicate dance between optimization and repetition to control extraction outcomes

255th National Meeting (2018)

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