MCT process chain – Infusion of MCT oil

Category: Overhead Stirrer and Magnetic StirrerWhitepaper published August 2020

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Category: Overhead Stirrer and Magnetic Stirrer / Whitepaper published August 2020

MCT process chain – Infusion of MCT oil

Processing of Cannabis extracts – Challenges galore?

Working with Cannabis extracts is often challenging. The valuable extracts are sensitive and require careful handling to protect their value and turn them into high quality products. Especially, when it comes to mixing tasks, the right equipment is crucial not only for good results but also for an efficient workflow. This whitepaper deals with one of the main mixing tasks of Cannabis extracts: The infusion of oils with Cannabis extract. It shows the solution Heidolph offers to facilitate, speed up and improve mixing processes.

Objective: Infusion of oils

The undesired separation of terpene and cannabinoid fractions after the extraction process is a phenomenon that many pro-ducers are facing. Goal is to obtain a ho-mogenous extract to ensure a consistent quality and potency of the final product. Therefore, the Cannabis extract needs to

Fig. 1 Cannabis extract layer (golden) at the bottom of the beaker; MCT oil layer (clear) at the top

be reconstituted by mixing the separated fractions efficiently. Reconstitution, howe-ver, can be a challenge because the can-nabinoid fraction is viscous or even solid at room temperature while the terpene fraction is a thin liquid. Addition of heat to reduce the viscosity of the mixture is not advisable in this process step, as it can cause the evaporation of valuable natural terpenes.

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Conclusion: Heidolph meets the challenges

The example shows that the combination of Heidolph Hei-Tec hot plate and Hei-TORQUE Precision 200 Overhead Stir-rer optimizes Cannabis extract infusion processes. In comparison to uncontrolled heating and manual mixing the results are more uniform, the quality is reliable for every batch and the daily throughput is multiplied.

Method: Homogeneous infusion of MCT oil

The combination of a Heidolph Hei-Torque Precision 200 Overhead Stirrer, equipped with a pitched-blade impeller, and a Hei-dolph Hei-Tec hot plate was used to ho-mogenize a “Oregon Lemons” variety of Cannabis extract with Medium Chain Tri-glycerides (MCTs) at OutCo in San Diego, California.

Fig. 2 Clear and homogeneous final product

The most efficient solution

Many producers try to reach the requi-rement by heating the mixture and hand mixing. The difference in viscosities often makes it hard to stir up the highly viscous Cannabis extract and combine it with MCTs to a stable mixture by hand. The necessa-ry force to lead to a homogeneous product with consistent quality is often not rea-ched. Therefore, the mixture is commonly heated to reduce the viscosity for easier mixing, but without a precise temperatu-re control, the risk of the loss of valuable terpenes is given, due to their low boiling points. This affects not only the aroma but also the potency of the product and leads to inconsistent, non-reproducible results.The manual mixing process is extremely tiresome and time-consuming. Due to the labor involved in hand mixing, the process can only be repeated a few times by a sin-gle technician within a day, limiting the amount of batches to be processed. With the precise temperature regulation of the Heidolph Hei-Tec hot plate, redu-cing the viscosity of Cannabis extracts fi-nally becomes a controllable process. The combination of the Hei-Tec hot plate with the Hei-TORQUE Precision 200 Overhead Stirrer and a suitable impeller offers an alternative that will speed up and facili-tate the infusion process by many times, enabling to increase the daily throughput notably and guaranteeing for high-quality results.

Hei-TORQUE Precision 200 with PR39 impeller and Hei-Tec

In a suitable vessel, here a 3000 ml glass beaker, 162.5 grams of “Oregon Lemons” variety Cannabis extract of opaque co-lor and the consistency of caramel were combined with 2487 grams of clear and colorless MCT oil with the viscosity of ve-getable oil (Fig. 1). The hot plate was set to heat the base of the beaker to 60 °C to gently melt the layer of extract at the base of the beaker. A homogeneous mixture of the Cannabinoids and MCTs was accom-plished with 800 rpm for eight minutes at 60 °C. The result was a translucent liquid with a lightly yellow tint and no perceptible particles (Fig. 2). The viscosity and clarity did not appreciably change after mixing. The mixture was at that point ready to be added to a topical mixture or bottled for use as an oral supplement.

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Heidolph does not support or promote the use of its products or services in connection with illegal use, cultivation or trade of cannabis products. Heidolph products are intended to be used for research use only

purposes or state approved medical research. Heidolph Instruments is not condoning the use of recreational nor medical marijuana, we are merely providing a market summary of the cannabis research industry.

For any technical questions, application support etc. please contact us under:

NORTH AMERICA

Heidolph North America 1235 Mittel Blvd. Suite B

Wood Dale IL 60191

Michael Bishop Director-Applied Markets

Phone: (858) 688-6826

mbishop@heidolph.com www.heidolph-hbx.com

EUROPE / AFRICA / MIDDLE EAST / ASIA PACIFIC / SOUTH AMERICA

Heidolph Instruments GmbH & Co. KG Walpersdorfer Str. 12 D-91126 Schwabach

Christoph Schumann Sales Consultant

Phone: +49 (0) 9122 / 99 20 429

HBX.Applications@heidolph.de www.heidolph-hbx.com