Marijuana Business Magazine May-June 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | May-June 2020 104 A cannabis extraction company aiming to achieve the best yields possible must first consider the quality of the starting material and the product being created. Once that’s established, extraction firms need to focus on: • Sourcing the correct strains to create the optimal yield for a particular outcome. • Selecting processes to create products with either a single cannabinoid or a full range of properties. • Ensuring that maximizing yield won’t mean sacrificing purity. “Yield and quality can be difficult to achieve because they can go in opposite directions,” said Rubin Torf, co-founder of Scientia Labs, a Salem, Oregon-based cannabis extraction company. Start off Strong Extractors should be able to identify certain strains of marijuana flower that contain the desired qualities, such as certain terpenes or flavors, for a particular product. Maximizing Extraction Yields Use the correct strain and adapt your production methods to best match the end product BestPracticesInExtraction | Bart Schaneman MariMed uses a warm ethanol wash with a long soak to produce full-spectrum cannabis oil. Courtesy Photo When it comes to marijuana processing, any wasted material is lost money. Extraction companies looking to maximize yields should carefully consider: • Sourcing the best possible starting material. • What will be the desired end product, and which extraction process is the best choice to create it? • Balancing a need for efficiency with a focus on quality. • How different solvent temperatures and extraction methods will affect the process and outcomes.