My CBD distillate has crystalized. Need advice.

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So I bought a liter of CBD distillate about 5 months ago. I made a batch of tinctures and then stored the distillate in the cupboard. I just pulled it out of the cupboard and most of it has crystalized. First question: is this normal? Second question: what caused it to crystalize? And third: will it return to a flow state if I heat it up?

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IMG_20190719_1957378063024Ă—4032 2.81 MB

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Cupboard isolate

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itll flow when gently heated. try not to do it too warm and would be best in an oxygen free environment to avoid oxidation.

“Cannabinoid acids can crystallize, but many cannabinoids, including THC, cannot. CBD is one exception because it has 2 OH groups that can interact (hydrogen bond) with OH groups on other CBD molecules. THC, on the other hand, only has one OH group, so it can only hydrogen bond to one other THC, making a dimer. The carboxylic acid group on THCa acts as a 2nd functional site on the molecule, allowing crystal lattices to grow, similar to the way CBD’s 2 OH groups allow crystal growth.” - someone on this forum, probably @Photon_noir

use the search bar to search crystalized or somesuch and youll find wealth of data.

welcome.

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This is normal. CBD distillate will crystallize quite easily. As @Rowan says above avoid picking up a red-ish color, by using gentle heat and under vacuum if you can.

I find that a few 30sec runs through a microwave will loosen it up without requiring a long heating time. We use this technique quite often in our lab with little to no signs of oxidation.
This avoids what we consider the risks of traditional reheating techniques, ie, uneven heating (hotplate) as well as potential water vapor contamination (waterbath)
(be sure to remove the plastic cap, and only do this in glass, and using short bursts in the MW)

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Did it clear up yet?

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Thanks for the feedback. I ended up doing a water bath around 120*. It worked well enough. I’m hoping there wasn’t any water vapor contamination. What would that look like?

Thanks

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Yet delta 10 crystallizes without any OH groups.

:face_with_monocle:

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CBG is prone to crystallization as well

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