Glossary

Cannabis Glossary

Aluminum Oxide: Metal catalyst used to increase reaction rates. Used in cannabinoid synthesis and conversions.

BHO: Butane Hash Oil (BHO) is a cannabis concentrate made by extracting cannabis with butane. The most common BHO is Live Resin. Butane is a great non-polar hydrocarbon for extracting cannabis. It makes light colored, high potency, and flavorful concentrates.

COA: Certificate of Analysis (COA) is a third party test that measures contaminates and potency. It’s used to certify cannabis product quality.

Cake: Cake refers to Filter Cake. When cannabinoids are purified by filtering, they leave behind wet THCA called cake.

Cannabinoid: Chemical class of 100+ naturally occurring compounds. THC is the most well known. Other common cannabinoids are CBD, CBN, and CBG.

Distillate: Distillate is made when cannabinoids are distilled. Distillation happens when compounds are evaporated then cooled back to liquid. It’s a way to purify chemicals based on boiling points. Manufactures may crude extracts because they are dark and low potency. They distill the cannabinoids resulting in a light yellow, high potency distilled oil. Chlorophyll and unwanted impurities are left behind (don’t evaporate). It allows operators to purify cannabinoid extracts with heat. Distillate is often made under high vacuum distillation to reduce the boiling points and oxidation. Common distillation techniques in cannabis are wiped film and spinning band distillation.

Fats: Fats are waxy lipid compounds made by all plants. Fats are removed during extraction and can be used to make candles or topical salves.

GMP: GMP are Good Manufacturing Practices implemented by quality teams at manufacturing plants. It implies safe and efficient processes.

HPLC: High Performance Liquid Chromatography is a testing instrument to analyze compound concentrations such as cannabinoids. This is a common instrument that measures THC levels in cannabis products.

Heavy Metals: Natural, carcinogenic elements found in soil and nature. Heavy metals are contaminants in cannabis products and should be non-detectable or under state action limits.

Honey Pot: Honey Pot is the collection vessel in extraction. Operators harvest the extract from the Honey Pot, and it looks like honey at this stage.

ISO 9001: ISO 9001 is a quality management factory certification. It implies good quality standards.

Industrial Hemp: Industrial hemp is a cannabis plant with high CBD and low THC levels (<0.3% Total THC). It was legalized across the USA by the 2018 Farm Bill.

Isopropyl Alcohol: Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) is rubbing alcohol. It’s commonly used to clean glassware.

Live: Live as in “Live” Resin, means the concnetrate was made from “alive” cannabis plants. This infers the plants were immediately extracted or frozen and extracted later on while frozen. Doing this preserves the most flavor.

Live Resin: Cannabis concentrate with a wet sugar consistency. Made from extracting fresh frozen “live” cannabis flowers with hydrocarbons (butane). The main Live Resin types are Sugar, Sauce, Badder, and Diamonds. Check out our What is Live Resin post for more!

MCT Oil: MCT stands for Medium Chained Triglycerides, which are medium sized lipid compounds made from purifying coconut oil. MCT Oil for cannabis tinctures is usually C8-C12 chain length triglycerides. MCT color varies from clear to faint yellow, and its viscosity is similar to water. Pure MCT Oil can be flavorless and a great ingredient for cannabinoid tinctures.

Mother Liqueur: Mother Liqueur is a solution of cannabinoids, terpenes, and solvent made during the extraction processes. For example, when growing THCA diamonds, a liquid layer will form on top that contains terpenes, some cannabinoids, and solvent. This liquid layer is called Mother Liqueur.

Nitrogen: Nitrogen is a common inert compound used in chemical processing. It’s used to cool vessels, purge tanks, and move gasses in cannabis extraction.

Precipitate: Precipitate is crystal particles that fall out of solution and appear as solids in a liquid. If CBD Isolate begins recrystallizing in a CBD oil tincture, then it is a Precipitate, and has precipitated out of solution. It appears as white rocks inside the oil.

Refined Live Resin: Refined Live Resin is further purified Live Resin. It’s often refined to make a flowable liquid that can but used in a 510 vape cartridge. Methods of purification are distillation, heating, filtering, or mixing.

Solvent: Solvents dissolve solutes and are used in extraction, cleaning, and sometimes drinking! Ethanol in vodka is a great solvent to extract cannabinoids. Common solvents used in the cannabis industry are ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, butane, pentane, heptane, and limonene.

THC: THC is a natural cannabinoid predominantly found in marijuana cannabis and responsible for the psychoactive high effect.

Tincture: Tinctures are cannabinoids dissolved in a carrier such as olive oil, coconut oil, or alcohol. CBD oil tinctures are CBD isolate dissolved in coconut oil.

Vape: Vape stands for vapor and vaping refers to heating cannabinoids until they vaporize but do not combust. The cannabinoids turn from a liquid oil to vapor. Vaping is done through carts and dabs. Vaping typically refers to a 510 vape cartridge like the image.

Vape Battery: Electronic battery with female 510 threads for 510 vape cartridges.