When is cannabis extract truly Full Spectrum? Peter Vermeul explains
When is cannabis extract truly Full Spectrum? Peter Vermeul explains
Full Spectrum: more than just CBD and THC
The term Full Spectrum is encountered everywhere nowadays when talking about cannabis oil. But what does that term actually mean? And perhaps even more importantly: does a product sold as Full Spectrum actually contain the broad spectrum of natural plant compounds that are naturally present in the cannabis plant?
According to Peter Vermeul, founder and owner of CBD Spain, this is still too easily overlooked in the cannabis world. Many products are judged primarily on their CBD and THC content. But according to him, that only looks at a small part of what the cannabis plant has to offer naturally.
The plant contains a much greater variety of compounds. In addition to cannabinoids such as CBDa, CBGa, and THCa, there are terpenes, flavonoids, cannabflavins, and sterols. For Peter, it is precisely the combination and interaction of these plant compounds that form the essence of a truly Full Spectrum cannabis extract.
In his recent article What a Truly Full-Spectrum Cannabis Extract Means to Me, he delves deeper into this subject. The occasion is a scientific study in which researchers compared different cannabis flowers and commercial cannabis extracts. The results show that the way cannabis is processed can have a major impact on the final composition of the extract.
What happens to the plant during the extraction process?
An interesting study by Noa Raz, Aharon M. Eyal, and Elyad M. Davidson, published in the scientific journal Molecules, focused on the differences between cannabis flowers and commercial cannabis extracts. In doing so, the researchers looked not only at cannabinoids, but also at the presence of terpenes.
The results were striking. Although the amount of cannabinoids in the extracts studied was relatively well preserved, a large part of the terpenes appeared to have been lost. The so-called monoterpenes and monoterpenoids proved particularly vulnerable. The researchers reported losses of around 90% in this group of volatile compounds.
That is a substantial difference. An extract can still have a comparable CBD or THC content on paper, while the original chemical composition of the plant has meanwhile changed significantly.
Terpenes are aromatic substances that occur naturally in many plants. They contribute, among other things, to the scent and character of a plant. In cannabis, myrcene, limonene, alpha-pinene, and beta-pinene are well-known terpenes.
For Peter, this is an important point of attention. When a large part of these natural compounds is lost during processing, you can wonder to what extent the final product still truly represents the original plant profile.
Heating also plays a role. The extracts studied were decarboxylated. This is a process in which cannabinoid acids are converted into their neutral forms by heating. For example, CBDa is converted into CBD and THCa into THC. At the same time, drying, grinding, evaporation, and heating can also cause volatile terpenes to disappear.
Peter emphasizes that this study does not prove that every extraction method must lead to large losses. It mainly shows what can happen with the conventional processing methods studied.
CBDa is not the same as CBD
Another important part of Peter's vision is the preservation of cannabinoid acids.
In the living cannabis plant, cannabinoids occur naturally in their acidic form. Think of CBDa, CBGa, and THCa. By heating, these substances can change into CBD, CBG, and THC, respectively. Although they are closely related, they are chemically different compounds.
For Peter, it is therefore not enough to only look at the total cannabinoid content. The original form in which the cannabinoids are present must also be taken into account when assessing the quality and composition of an extract.
This distinction is important in the development of Full Spectrum CBDa oil. The starting point of CBD Spain is to preserve as much of the original plant compounds as possible in their natural form during extraction. Unnecessary heating and decarboxylation are avoided as much as possible.
Two laboratory analyses tell a special story
To make his own working method clear, Peter shares two laboratory analyses in his article. What is special about this is that two different products are not simply compared with each other. It is an analysis of the original plant material and an analysis of the extract that was actually produced from that same material.
The starting material, a CBDVa/CBDa variety with the designation STRAIN 2, contained 9.39% total cannabinoids and 0.46% total terpenes according to the laboratory analysis.
In the final concentrated extract, 67.17% total cannabinoids and as much as 10.80% total terpenes were measured.
But above all, the mutual composition is interesting.
In the extract, the cannabinoid acids clearly remained dominant. For example, 39.00% CBDa was measured compared to only 0.60% CBD. CBDVa was also strongly represented at 20.40%, compared to 0.18% CBDV.
In addition, the terpene analysis showed a broad profile. In addition to the heavier terpenes, such as beta-caryophyllene, guaiol, and humulene, several more volatile monoterpenes were also detected. Think of myrcene (2.43%), D-limonene (0.94%), beta-pinene, and alpha-pinene.
It is precisely that combination that makes the analysis so interesting according to Peter: an extract in which the cannabinoid acids are present in high concentrations, while at the same time a broad spectrum of terpenes can be found.
Why preserving terpenes is important
In the previously mentioned study by Raz and his colleagues, it appeared that the volatile monoterpenes in particular decreased sharply in conventional extraction processes. Peter places his own analysis results alongside these findings.
When he adds up the separately reported monoterpenes and monoterpenoids in his extract, he comes out to approximately 3.99% of the total extract. That represents approximately 36.9% of the measured terpene profile.
That figure does require careful interpretation. It does not mean that he can prove that 36.9% of all original monoterpenes from the plant have been preserved. More extensive research is needed for that, in which, among other things, the exact amounts of plant material, extract yield, and individual compounds before and after extraction are taken into account.
What the analyses do show according to Peter is that the volatile terpenes in his concentrated extract are still clearly present. And that is exactly the kind of information that is lost when you only look at the CBD or THC percentage on a label.
Preserving or adding afterwards: does it make a difference?
Another interesting point from the study is the researchers' proposal to add lost terpenes again after the extraction process.
From a pharmaceutical point of view, that can be an interesting approach. By adding specific terpenes, you can precisely control the composition of a product and try to reproduce a certain formulation.
But according to Peter, that is something different from preserving the original plant compounds.
When a large part of the natural substances is lost during processing and then individual molecules are added, a composite formulation is created. That can be interesting in itself, but it is not the same as an extract in which the original compounds have been preserved during the extraction process.
With the extracts from CBD Spain, the terpenes are not added afterwards according to Peter. They come from the original plant material and are part of the final plant extract.
That difference touches on the core of his vision of Full Spectrum.
What does this mean for the quality of Full Spectrum CBDa oil?
For Peter Vermeul, Full Spectrum is about much more than a high percentage of CBD or an impressive cannabinoid profile. It is about the total composition of the extract and the question of how much of the original plant can actually be found in it.
This includes not only cannabinoids and cannabinoid acids, but also terpenes, flavonoids, cannabflavins, sterols, and other natural plant compounds.
The laboratory analyses that he presents in his article give an interesting insight into the way his extraction process affects the composition of the original plant material. They support his starting point to preserve as many natural compounds as possible together and in their original chemical form.
At the same time, Peter is careful about what the analyses do and do not prove. They show interesting differences and provide insight into the composition of the studied plant material and extract. They do not prove that every individual plant substance has been completely preserved, nor that a certain composition automatically results in a specific health effect.
For us at CBD & Herb, that very attention to composition, origin, and method of production is an important part of the collaboration with CBD Spain. We work with Peter Vermeul's organic Full Spectrum CBDa oil and we think it is important that people not only know what they are using, but also understand how a product comes about and what lies behind the term Full Spectrum.
Because when we talk about the possibilities of cannabis for our health, the conversation starts with us at the plant itself. What is actually in it? How was it processed? And what of the original composition has been preserved?
Curious about the full substantiation?
In his original article, Peter Vermeul takes you through the scientific publication by Raz and his colleagues, the comparison between conventional extracts and his own extraction method, and the associated laboratory analyses.
An interesting deepening for anyone who wants to understand more about the composition of cannabis extracts and what distinguishes a truly Full Spectrum extract.Read Peter Vermeul's full article here: 'What a Truly Full-Spectrum Cannabis Extract Means to Me'.