What are Isolates?
Isolates are high-dose substances and are usually offered in powder or crystal form. An efficient extraction system makes it possible to isolate cannabinoids from the hemp plant in their purest form.
Isolates are high-dose substances and are usually offered in powder or crystal form. An efficient extraction system makes it possible to isolate cannabinoids from the hemp plant in their purest form. The resulting substance, with a purity level of approximately 99%, consists almost exclusively of the desired active ingredient.
Among CBD oils, full-spectrum oils are still the first choice. These oils contain many important active ingredients of the hemp plant, besides cannabinoids, for example flavonoids and terpenes. CBD isolates, on the other hand, only contain CBD as an active ingredient. In contrast to full-spectrum products, CBD isolates do not contain any additional cannabinoids, terpenes, or other phytochemical compounds. Therefore, they are also more limited in their effect, have a lower health benefit and no entourage effect is produced.
The hemp industry often works with isolated pure substances, in order to add them to the final products in the course of the manufacturing process. They are well suited for a variety of consumption methods and are also mixed e.g. into beverages and edibles. Isolates make it easier for the manufacturer to accurately maintain the desired dose of a cannabinoid in their product so that they do not deviate from the amount specified there. Furthermore, they can guarantee that there is no psychoactive THC in their product if they use a pure CBD isolate, for example. By being able to standardize the cannabinoid content of their products, they also make them more reliable in their effects.
A distinction is made between natural, synthetically produced and liposomal (water-soluble) isolates. Natural isolates are produced from the hemp plant. For this purpose, the hemp biomass is extracted and a hemp extract is obtained. In the next production step, called "winterization," lipids (fats) and plant waxes are removed from the hemp extract by cooling chemical compounds. The winterized oil is then distilled, which removes chlorophyll, terpenes and unwanted impurities. The final product is an odorless and tasteless cannabinoid isolate in its purest form with a purity level of 99%.
Synthetic cannabinoid isolates are produced by chemical synthesis. They are an active pharmaceutical ingredient that comes in the form of an ultra-pure, crystalline powder. At the molecular level, the isolates are chemically identical to natural, plant-derived cannabinoids. Natural or synthetic isolates are used during the production process of "water-soluble" cannabinoids for which there exist various patented methods.
Kathrin Ranegger