Winterization

When it comes to cannabis, winterization is a refining process used to remove fats, lipids, and other undesirable compounds from the oil extracted from the cannabis plant. Winterization, also known as deparaffinization, purifies raw extracts by cooling the solution so that fats and lipids solidify and can be removed, thereby improving the quality and flavor of the final concentrate. Winterized concentrates are available in a variety of consistencies, such as shatter, paste, crumble, and wax.

Why is winterization important?

By removing lipids and other undesirable substances from the extracted oil, winterization increases the cannabinoid content. Lipids make the oil cloudy, cause it to burn, and give it a bad taste when vaporized. A cloudy oil that tastes burnt when vaporized and contains less cannabinoids is considered to be of lower quality by consumers.

Winterization Process

Cannabis winterization is performed by mixing the cannabis extract with ethanol and cooling the solution to a temperature well below the freezing point so that undesirable compounds solidify. The solution must be kept below the freezing point for at least 24 hours before being forced through a series of filters with progressively finer micron ratings to remove the solidified wax, lipids, and fats from the oil. The final step involves removing the ethanol from the solution.

Extraction and Winterization Methods

Winterization varies in extent depending on the extraction method.

CO2 Extraction: CO2 has become a popular solvent for cannabis extraction in recent years. Although it does not use harmful chemicals like butane to separate cannabinoids from plant material, it extracts the largest amount of lipids from the plant material. This is why winterization is very important in’commercial extraction processes that use CO2

Butane extraction: Butane extraction produces a moderate amount of lipids in the oil. As a result, BHO and the concentrates derived from it are often cloudy.

Ethanol extraction: Chilled ethanol extracts the smallest amount of lipids from cannabis. Using ethanol for extraction results in fewer impurities in the oil and reduces the need for winterization.