What are solvents in this context, and why are solventless extracts better? In today’s post, we’ll explore both these questions and more. By the end, we think you’ll agree that when it comes to protecting our planet (and the people who live on it), solventless extraction is the far better production choice behind exceptional wellness products and edibles.

What is Solventless THC? An Introduction to Cannabis Science

If you know anything about cannabis, it’s probably that it contains natural compounds called cannabinoids. A large family that includes THC and CBD, the cannabinoids can be thought of as the “major active ingredients” in cannabis, imparting most of the plant’s beneficial effects, including the characteristic psychoactivity of THC. To be used in products such as our potent 1:3 THC Releaf Balm or our scrumptious CBN Sleep Releaf Chocolate Bar, these powerful natural medicines must first be extracted from the plant. As it turns out, how that’s accomplished is a very important question.

Cannabinoids are extracted from plant matter through one of two methods: With the use of solvents or without them. Solvent extracts use chemicals such as ethanol, butane, or CO2 to isolate the cannabinoids and other active compounds from cannabis plant matter. Then the solvents are “purged” (or washed away) so that the resulting product with isolated cannabinoids is safe for you to use.

By contrast, a solventless infusion uses only gentle heat and pressure to separate the cannabinoids from the plants. It’s a simple and time-honored process. In addition to resulting in a full spectrum THC product bursting with potent cannabinoids, therapeutic terpenes, and other cannabis compounds, solventless infusion techniques impart a number of downstream benefits—as we’ll see in just a moment.

Solvent Free for a Healthier Environment

So, why wouldn’t you want to use solvent-based extraction? First and foremost, you may not want any chemicals interacting with your cannabis. We certainly don’t, and that’s one reason we provide Certificates of Analysis for our thoughtfully made wellness products.

Secondly, one major issue with solvent-based extraction methods is that the chemicals they require must be safely disposed of once they’ve been purged. This requires costly and sophisticated waste-management systems to contain these volatile compounds so that they don’t show up in the air we breathe or the water we drink.

But even if these chemicals are properly kept out of the environment, they can still pose a threat to the workers who have to handle them. That’s because most solvents give off high levels of VOCs, short for “volatile organic compounds.” And according to the American Lung Association VOCs can cause a variety of health problems, including the potential to damage the central nervous system and other vital organs.

Here in California, historic environmental laws such as the California Ambient Air Quality Standard help ensure that extract producers follow legal safety guidelines. But at Papa & Barkley, we feel that the risks of employing solvent extraction—to workers, to neighbors, and to all of us—simply aren’t worth it. Instead, we rely on solventless infusion to access the healing power of this all-natural product. In addition to producing what many thousands of you believe is a superior product, this approach reaps a number of significant downstream effects, as we’ll see.

Benefits of Solventless Infusion: The Bigger Picture

In addition to avoiding the potential negative outcomes we outlined a moment ago, using solventless infusion technology imparts a number of long-lasting benefits. Here are just a few of them:

Growing Outdoors

Some cannabis cultivators grow their plants indoors in order to gain maximum control over environmental factors such as light and humidity. That said, this approach requires significant electricity use. Here in California, we’re fortunate that our partner farms can work with the elements to grow vibrant cannabis plants outdoors.

Organically Grown Cannabis

We’re big believers in keeping anything you wouldn’t want in your body or on your skin out of our products. Using organic growing principles means our farmers exclude synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, and other questionable inputs that could have a negative environmental impact and possibly deleterious effects on your body. Instead, they cultivate using simpler, regenerative farming techniques.

Solventless THC Infusion

As we mentioned a moment ago, we use only gentle heat and pressure—really, that’s all!—to infuse the purest cannabinoids we can from our sun-grown plants. This is the foundation for great wellness products, edibles, tinctures, and more. This approach also eliminates employee exposure to harmful VOCs, and we don’t need to rely on complex waste management systems to dispose of harmful chemicals, either.

Renewable Ingredients

If you read the ingredient lists for any of our products, you’ll see that we go out of our way to use renewable delivery methods such as beeswax and medium-chain triglyceride (MCT oil from coconut) wherever we can. We also use Fair Trade CertifiedTM ingredients in our delectable product like the Releaf Dark Chocolate Bar and Sour Peach P&B Kitchen Gummies.

Going Solventless: Why It Matters to Us

At Papa & Barkley, we’re committed to harnessing the full power of plants. That’s why all of our products are made with solventless, whole-plant infusions that contain the full spectrum of terpenes and cannabinoids present in each plant we harvest. From our award-winning topicals to our joy-sparking edibles and our convenient and effective tinctures, you’re putting these therapeutic plants to work with each and every one of our products.

Do you have other questions about the benefits of solventless extraction? Just ask! We’re always here to help.