CBD oil is a food supplement made from hemp plants. But have you ever thought ‘how is CBD oil made?’ In this article we’ll explain how CBD oil is made for two distinct types of CBD extract.
Related: 10 Delicious Ways to Add CBD Oil to Your Diet.
How is CBD oil made?
How CBD oil is made depends largely on the type of CBD extract in question.
Not all CBD oils are created in the same way, and the method of production creates very different kinds of CBD extract.
The two major categories of CBD extract are called ‘full spectrum’ CBD and ‘CBD isolate’.
We’ll explain exactly how each category of CBD oil is produced, step-by-step.
But first, let’s dive deeper into the nature of CBD oil.
What is CBD oil?
CBD oil is a food supplement made from hemp plants.
CBD extracts made from hemp are made into CBD oil.
The active ingredient in CBD oil is CBD, which is a cannabinoid. There are at least 113 known cannabinoids naturally occurring in hemp and cannabis plants.
CBD oil only contains trace amounts of THC, the compound that makes cannabis psychoactive. It is for this reason that CBD oil is legal in most countries around the world, providing the oil only contains trace amounts of THC.
Now let’s take a look at the two major categories of CBD oil and their characteristics.
Related: What is Raw CBD Oil and How Is It Different?
The different kinds of CBD oil
As we’ve mentioned, there are two main types of CBD oil.
The first is made from a full spectrum CBD extract. The second is made from CBD isolate.
What is full spectrum CBD oil?
Full spectrum CBD extracts contain a full spectrum of all the other phytochemicals naturally occurring in hemp and cannabis plants. This includes terpenes, fatty acids, flavonoids as well as essential vitamins and minerals and chlorophyll.
It has undergone less processing than CBD isolate. The result is a thick dark green or brown paste than can be used to make CBD oil.
What is CBD distillate?
Now, this full spectrum CBD extract can be distilled to produce ‘CBD distillate’.
CBD distillate is a sub-category of full spectrum CBD extracts. CBD distillate is still technically a full spectrum CBD extract, because it still contains a full spectrum of cannabis compounds. However, the distillation process only leaves terpenes, fatty acids etc. in trace amounts and the vast majority are lost in the process.
Related: The Difference Between CBD Oil and Cannabis Oil.
What is CBD isolate?
CBD isolate is a 99% pure CBD extract. It comes in the form of a white powder or crystal, that is water and oil soluble. However, over time CBD isolate does tend to recrystalise and so can begin to sink to the bottom of the oil.
CBD isolate is made from the CBD paste we mentioned above. The green/brown CBD paste undergoes further processing to produce the pure form. This creates a white powder or crystal that is 99% pure CBD.
How is CBD oil made?
So, now you know about the two distinct categories of CBD oil. As we mentioned before, these two types of CBD oil have different methods of production.
Below is a full explanation of how CBD oil is made.
How is full spectrum CBD oil made?
Full spectrum CBD oil is made by first harvesting hemp plants. These hemp plants then undergo a process called supercritical extraction, or CO2 extraction.
This is where liquid CO2 is used as a powerful solvent to extract the CBD from the rest of the plant matter.
The process creates a CBD extract, that still contains the other phytochemicals that naturally occur in hemp plants such as terpenes, fatty acids, flavonoids, as well as antioxidants, fibre and chlorophyll. The extract contains a ‘full spectrum’ of cannabis compounds.
The CBD extract comes in the form of a thick dark green or brown paste. This paste is then suspended into a carrier oil, usually hemp oil.
Related: The Difference Between CBD Oil and Hemp Oil.
How is CBD distillate made?
As we mentioned previously, there is a sub-category of full spectrum CBD oil called CBD distillate.
CBD distillate is still technically classified as a full spectrum CBD oil, because it contains a full spectrum of cannabis compounds, but in trace amounts.
It is made by taking full spectrum CBD paste and distilling it, to remove further organic matter from the extract, making it more CBD-dominant. The result is an amber or brown translucent liquid the texture of honey.
How is CBD isolate made?
CBD isolate is a fine white powder or crystal that is a 99% pure CBD extract.
It is made by taking CBD paste mentioned above and undergoing a process called chromatography.
Chromatography is a technique that allows chemists to remove all organic matter from the CBD extract. All terpenes, fatty acids, plant fibre, chlorophyll, antioxidants – everything – is removed from the extract, producing a pure CBD extract.
Where to buy organic, full spectrum CBD oil
At Aura CBD Oil UK we provide thousands of people across the world with the highest-grade CBD extracts nature has to offer.
Our CBD oils, pastes, skin balms and edibles are all 100% organic, full spectrum, whole plant extracts.
If you have any questions about how CBD oil is made or would like to know more about what we do at Aura, you can email us at info@auracbdoil.com or send us a message on Facebook. We love to hear from you!
If you enjoyed this article be sure to check out our blog where we upload new content every week to keep you informed about the world of CBD.
