No…
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well thanks for your great contribution to the conversation.
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I think there will be a place for CO2 when it comes to terpene recovery and supercritical fluid chromatography, but for cannabinoids I don’t think CO2 has either the scalability or economic feasibility. I can see people continuing to use CO2 for terpene recovery, then run the biomass through an organic solvent (or run a co-solvent with the CO2) to recover the cannabinoids, but I think in the long run for jurisdictions which have no prohibition against light hydrocarbons, I think Co2 will be on the decline for cannabinoid recovery.
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This could be answered empirically with gas chromatography. You could do a mass balance by first taking a representative sample of the flower you will extract, send that for terpenes by GC analysis.
Then extract said biomass using the process of your choice. Send a sample from the extract for GC analysis. You should be able to use the concentration from the analysis to calculate milligrams of terpenes in the biomass, and then in the extract, and measure the difference to see the delta in yield.
Note: Yield itself can be a bit misleading because the composition of your yield can be non-value added material.
You could also measure the recovery of terpenes by overlaying the chromatogram from the extract on top of the chromatogram from the flower analysis – you should see the same peaks on top of each other (although the extract chromatogram should have a proportional increase in peak height and width due to concentration).
Edit: spelling
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I’d be all over this if i had a co2 extractor and a CLS to test side by side.
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Will growing cannabis to get cannabinoids even be a thing in the future?
People are gonna farm hemp for extracts and weed for flower and terps to add to the converted hemp.
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With that mindset watch out for fermentation and yeast gangs lol don’t forget the splice boys too (crispr)
Science is here to finally stay on Cannabinoids. Whatever changes may come. I’m here for it all.
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I always thought using co2 to extract cannabinoids was like using a baseball bat to swat flies.
Sure, it can be done, but there are already better ways.
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Bet you couldn’t do chromatography using hydrocarbons…
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Normal phase chromatography you usually run solvent system containing a hydrophobic solvent such as hexane, along with ethylacetate
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Ive hit 7=% on terp yields. Product quality and storage matter greatly.
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Alex your on the money.
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straight forward and to the point. hahaha. I do agree with you though.
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What are you saying exactly? Hydrocarbons work super well for chromatography in my experience. Not sure if you’re just trying to be an asshole, and take a childish stab at my skill sets (of which you have no idea). Or maybe you’re unsure if chromatography with hydrocarbons is feasible, and I am just being defensive. Not sure why anyone would try and bring some petty insults into this civil discussion, but whatever.
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Thanks homie! I appreciate your input as well.
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He said it in italics, which of course means he is implying sarcasm. Like, obviously you can perform chromo with hydrocarbons. So, don’t take it personally, take it objectively. He was just joking with you!
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Ahh I see. I’m not so hip to the nuances of internet speak so thank you for filling me in. Sometimes those things go right over my head, so thank you for mediating.
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sorry for being defensive. capttripppp filled me in on what italics imply. This one flew right over my head. haha
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Anytime you see the italics (especially when encompassing whole phrases) implies sarcasm. I don’t know if it’s that way everywhere, but I do know it’s that way here. It’s ok also, it’s hard to bring things across through articulation sometimes. I cuss as a means to better articulate myself, but some people see that and instantly think they’re being berated. When the reality is, that I like to cuss!
Either way, you know now and that’s what matters!
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Thing is once someone gets a CLS they rarely look back to CO2. CO2 leaves so much money on the table. haha I know once I get my hydrocarbon lab up my CO2 machine is going up for sale ASAP. No one will want it, then I will be sad. Then I’ll remember I have a hydrocarbon lab, and my sadness shall fade. 
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