As the delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-8) market continues to grow, customers are beginning to put an emphasis on quality. [1] Live resin extract is a product that not only preserves terpene profiles of cannabis plants, but it can be made in order to contain high levels of THC-8.
What is Live Resin Extraction?
During traditional extraction, cannabis is dried, and often heated, leading to degradation of many thermolabile compounds such as terpenes. Instead, live resin extraction relies on freezing the plant material right after the harvesting and using cold solvents to perform the extraction in order to keep the plant composition closer to its original natural state.
How is Live Resin Extraction Achieved?
Live resin extraction is complicated, but not particularly more complicated than standard extraction procedures. [2] Once the biomass is harvested, it is quickly frozen to preserve the plant natural chemical composition. From there, a standard extraction process occurs, with the solvents ideally chilled around -40 °C / -70 °C depending on the kind used and on the available equipments. Since the solution is already kept at a sub-zero temperature, winterization is no longer necessary. [3] The resulting extract can then be refined in order to make a wide variety of delta-8 products.
What are the Benefits to Live Resin?
Live resins are higher quality products capable of providing the full aroma and taste of a particular cannabis variety. Moreover, this kind of product allows to benefit from the entourage effect, the synergistic action of all the cannabis components. [4] Within the potential therapeutic effects of cannabis extracts there are anti-inflammatory properties, pain relief, lowered anxiety among others. [5] THC-8 is not as potent as THC-9, but the beneficial effects can still be comparable, with the former inducing less undesired psychotropic effect than the latter. In addition to that live resins containing THC-8 are legal and can be purchased easier than other kind of THC-9 products.
References:
[1] Nordqvist, C. (2021, October 23). A Look at the Growing Delta-8 THC Market. Market Business News. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://marketbusinessnews.com/the-growing-delta-8-thc-market/269524/
[2] How To Make Live Resin. (2022, February 15). Professional Extraction Equipment. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://precisionextraction.com/2021/04/how-to-make-live-resin/
[3] Morrison, W.H., Robertson, J.A. Solvent winterization of sunflower seed oil. J Am Oil Chem Soc 52, 148–150 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02557946
[4] Russo, E. B. (2019, January 9). The Case for the Entourage Effect and Conventional Breeding of Clinical Cannabis: No “Strain,” No Gain. Frontiers Plant Science. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2018.01969/full
[5] Anand, U., Pacchetti, B., Anand, P., & Sodergren, M. H. (2021, July). Cannabis-based medicines and pain: a review of potential synergistic and entourage effects. Pain Management, 11(4), 395–403. https://doi.org/10.2217/pmt-2020-0110
Image: https://www.bigstockphoto.com/it/image-206246026/stock-photo-macro-detail-of-cannabis-concentrate-live-resin-%28extracted-from-medical-marijuana%29-isolated-over-black-on-a-dabbing-tool
