Dark Pigments/Swirls Hydrocarbon Extract

Hash and Stuff Pre/Post-Processing
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Ran some very nice cured flower via hydrocarbon extraction with 70(b)/30(p) blend solvent with at or near -60C solvent, 5:1 solvent to material ratio, no soak, fill and drain to recovery…
I do this process ALOT for carts and decarbing in oven post extraction under 200F.

THIS Run Came out looking great but 1/2 way through decarbing I am seeing alot of pigment/dark swirls in the oil.

Curious anyone know?
-Fats?
-Micro Particulate?
-Way to seperate?

Attempted to filter hot oil through 6micron filter paper to no avail and lab does not have winterization/ethanol recovery capabilities so scratching my head on possible solutions to clean or scrub it out of the oil.

Aside from appearances, it smells incredible but concerned as its destined for cartridges!!!

I appreciate the insights from the crew/community!

Pigments in circular halo shape in video

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possible oxidation of terpenes or canabinoids durring decarb is my guess.

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Super weird as I have decarbed ALOT of cart runs the same way and never had this occur. Wondering if it could be a strain characteristic??

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Here’s a better look at the dark swirls - all input appreciated!

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There we go

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How much time are you usually decarbing for?

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my guess. always hard to tell from pictures.

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use a magnet and see if its rust if you use a carbon steel tank.

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48hours slowly at low temps

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:face_with_monocle: fats potentially

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Thanks for the input. My Theory is still that I’m seeing oxidation of Terpenes reason being is that the dark swirls or pigments are not present until at least 2/3rds of the way through decarb And usually show up after the sample in the beaker has been stirred or more exposed to air… To further that point, I’ve seen less of this phenomenon when humidity levels in the lab or lower.

Additionally, I have not ruled out that those pigments are actually fats as we recently upgraded our system and are running colder temps on a jacketed tank so I’ve also seen less of this but that could also be due to humidity as well.

So far I think it’s either oxidation of terpenes and or lipids.

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fats,lipids,particulate, and certain color tannins will darken w heat

I know after running bho through a crc stack it will stay whatever color it is w a ton heat. im assuming that the powders take out whatever turns dark

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I’d also guess microparticulate or maybe some type of lipids. I’ve seen this decarbing rosin. If it were terpenes undergoing some type of oxidation it would be evenly dispersed throughout the beaker. Judging by the way it’s consolidating together it looks like something that is insoluble and discoloring from the heat.

I bet if you take a lab scoop and brush through it while it’s heated up it will stick to the metal so you can look at it up close. I’ve actually suspected this to be some type of anthocyanin with rosin because it happened a lot with moist flower that pulled some purples. I carted it up and before long the purple particulate became visible as it got jammed up on the white intake holes. This would also explain why it’s more an issue when humidity is higher and it gets so easily removed in a filter.

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maybe it’s just my welded disk and all the filter papers that keep it from darkening but no it has something to do w whatever crc is removinf.

bc I’ve gotten to 300f by accident w no color loss on crc. but yeah don’t run cold enough ur gonna pull fats
buts why I like my jacket column in dead summer

the winter months really help about keeping it cold

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You can put it into your colection basin with new solvent. Run warm water and let it dissolve. Then use nitro if you have it to push into your column and run through CRC.
Ive had to re scrub dark slabs pretty often with older material.