Research updates at ACS Boston 2018 about curing, extraction, transformation and monitoring of cannabis.

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Dr. Markus Roggen
VP Extraction
OutCo, San Diego
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Latest Advances in Cannabis
Production Processes

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• Curing Research Update
• Extraction Research Update
• Reaction Progress Monitoring
• Cannabinoid Transformations
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Abstract

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What is Drying and Curing?
Dry Room Conditions
• 60-74˚F
• 40-60% humidity
• Water Activity monitoring
• Aim for <0.65Aw by day 5-7
Curing Conditions
• Different containers
• bucket, glass, box, bag, …
• Ambient conditions
• 40-50% humidity, 70˚F
• Length of time
• At least 1 week, up to 3 month

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• Moisture loss is driven by a difference in vapor pressure
• Balance between inhibiting mold growth and terpene loss
Water Activity during Dry and Cure
0.45
0.55
0.65
0.75
0.85
0.95
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
WaterActivity
Day
Water Activity
Aw of 0.65 represents the
value in which Botrytis cannot
continue to grow
Terpene Content (% dry weight)
Rapid Dry Slow Dry
Lemonade
Haze 1.42 1.82
Sour Tangie 1.69 2.2

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Does anything happen to THC, CBD, …?
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Cannabinoids during Cure
15%
20%
25%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Cannabinoidbywt.
Days of Cure
Potency

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Maybe to individual terpenes?
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Terpenes during Cure
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0
2
4
6
0 5 10 15 20 25
Terpenesbywt.
Days of cure
AutoCure Terpenes
Limonene Bisabolol Linalool Humulene bCP Myrcene

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Does anything happen to THC, CBD, …?
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Cannabinoids during Cure
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
w%
Weeks
I II III IV V

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Terpenes during Cure
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
w%
Weeks
Total Terpens
I II III IV V

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Terpenes during Cure
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0 2 4 6 8 10
w%
Weeks
Myrcene
I II III IV V
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0 2 4 6 8 10
w%
Weeks
bCaryophylene
I II III IV V
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
0 2 4 6 8 10
w%
Weeks
aPinene

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• Production Yield
• Production Costs
• Extract Constitution/Quality
• Legal Aspects
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Extraction Optimization

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a= 14.9 xT + 123 xp + 18.4 xTxp
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Analyzing the DoE, THC Recovery (Super)

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Does milling destroy THC?
Optimizing your Extraction Process
0%
1%
2%
%decarb by Size
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
%wt. Terpenes by Size

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But it does give you higher yields!
Optimizing your Extraction Process
20
22
24
26
28
30
32
34
Non-Ground Food Blender 2 mm 6 mm 10 mm
%Recovery
Cannabinoid Recovery by Size
75
80
85
90
95
Non-Ground Food Blender 2 mm 6 mm 10 mm
%Recovery
Terpene Recovery by Size

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30
35
40
45
50
55
Non-Ground Food Blender 2 mm 6 mm 10 mm
%conc.
Terpene Concentration F1
Higher is better, Food Blender wins
0
1
2
3
4
5
Non-Ground Food Blender 2 mm 6 mm 10 mm
%conc.
Terpene Concentration F2
Lower is better, 2mm wins
How about precision?
Optimizing your Extraction Process

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0
2
4
6
Non-Ground Food Blender 2 mm 6 mm 10 mm
%conc.
Cannabinoid Concentration F1
Lower is better, 10mm wins
55
60
65
70
75
Non-Ground Food Blender 2 mm 6 mm 10 mm
%conc.
Cannabinoid Concentration F2
Higher is better, 2mm wins
How about precision?
Optimizing your Extraction Process

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Packing Density and
THC Whereabouts
Optimizing your Extraction Process
StartFullHalfLoose
Flow

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
% wt. THC

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Visual Guide to Extracts

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Decarboxylation

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Reaction Progress Analytics
Example spectra of cannabis extract throughout the
course of decarboxylation by the application of heat.

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Reaction Progress Analytics
Cannabinoid concentration plots over the course of
decarboxylation for 3 separate decarboxylation reactions.

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THC
CBN
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CBN Formation

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Apeks Supercritical
Fritsch
PerkinElmer
Henkelman
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Thanks

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The Crew
Blake Grauerholz
Taylor Trah
Matt Zbiec
Chris Cortina
and team
Thank You