Glossary
Cannabis extraction glossary
105 common cannabis industry and closed loop extraction terms, explained simply.
- Active recovery Extraction
- Solvent recovery assisted by a recovery pump or compressor, rather than relying on temperature differences alone.
- Badder Products
- A soft, whipped, cake-batter-like concentrate texture formed when crystallization is agitated.
- Batch record Compliance/Industry
- The document that records everything about producing one batch: inputs, steps, people, results and deviations.
- BHO Extraction
- Butane hash oil: concentrate extracted with butane, typically in a closed loop system.
- Biomass Products
- Harvested cannabis plant material used as extraction input.
- Bubble hash Products
- Solventless concentrate made by separating trichomes with ice water and screens.
- Budder Products
- Creamy, opaque concentrate texture similar to badder.
- C1D1 Compliance/Industry
- Class I, Division 1: a hazardous location classification where flammable vapors may be present in normal operation.
- Cannabinoid Chemistry
- A class of compounds produced by cannabis, such as THCa, THC, CBDa and CBD.
- CAPA Compliance/Industry
- Corrective and preventive action: fixing the cause of a problem and preventing it from recurring.
- Cart Products
- A vape cartridge, often filled with distillate or live resin.
- CBD Chemistry
- Cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating cannabinoid.
- CBDa Chemistry
- The acidic precursor of CBD found in the raw plant.
- CBG Chemistry
- Cannabigerol, a minor cannabinoid; its acid form CBGa is a precursor to other cannabinoids.
- Certificate of analysis (COA) Compliance/Industry
- A lab report showing test results for potency, contaminants and other required analytes.
- Chain of custody Compliance/Industry
- Documentation tracking who handled a sample or product and when.
- Chiller Equipment
- A refrigeration unit that cools fluid circulated through equipment jackets or coils.
- Closed loop extractor Equipment
- A sealed hydrocarbon extraction system that keeps solvent inside the equipment and recovers it for reuse.
- Closed loop system Equipment
- Another name for a closed loop extractor and its connected tanks, columns, collection vessels and recovery path.
- CO2 extraction Extraction
- Extraction using pressurized carbon dioxide, often in a supercritical state.
- Collection vessel Equipment
- The part of a closed loop system where extract-laden solvent collects.
- Column Equipment
- A material column holding the plant material during extraction; sized by diameter and length, e.g. 6x48.
- Compliance Compliance/Industry
- Meeting all applicable laws, regulations and license conditions.
- Compressor Equipment
- A machine that raises gas pressure; in labs, often part of solvent recovery or refrigeration.
- Condenser Equipment
- A heat exchanger that turns solvent vapor back into liquid during recovery.
- Crumble Products
- A dry, brittle concentrate texture that breaks apart easily.
- Crystallization Chemistry
- The process of molecules arranging into an ordered solid structure, such as THCa diamonds.
- Cured resin Products
- Concentrate made from dried and cured plant material, as opposed to fresh frozen.
- Cut points Extraction
- In distillation, the points at which fractions are separated.
- Decarboxylation Chemistry
- The conversion of acidic cannabinoids (e.g. THCa) to neutral forms (e.g. THC), usually by heat.
- Deviation Compliance/Industry
- Any departure from an approved procedure or specification, which must be documented.
- Dewaxing Extraction
- Removing plant waxes and lipids to improve clarity, by inline filtration or winterization.
- Diamonds Products
- Large THCa crystals grown from a high-terpene extract.
- Distillate Products
- Highly refined cannabinoid oil produced by distillation, usually low in terpenes.
- Dry ice Equipment
- Solid carbon dioxide, used in some labs for cooling.
- Ethanol extraction Extraction
- Extraction using ethanol as the solvent, common at large scale.
- Flower rosin Products
- Rosin pressed directly from cannabis flower.
- Fresh frozen Products
- Plant material frozen immediately after harvest to preserve terpenes, used for live products.
- Full spectrum extract Products
- An extract that retains a broad range of the plant's cannabinoids and terpenes.
- Gas detection Equipment
- Sensors and alarms that detect flammable gas in a room.
- GMP Compliance/Industry
- Good Manufacturing Practice: systems ensuring products are consistently produced and controlled to quality standards.
- HACCP Compliance/Industry
- Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, a preventive food-safety system.
- Hash rosin Products
- Rosin pressed from bubble hash, a premium solventless product.
- Heater / circulator Equipment
- Equipment that heats and circulates fluid through jacketed vessels.
- HTFSE Products
- High-terpene full spectrum extract: the terpene-rich liquid portion that separates from diamonds.
- Hydrocarbon Chemistry
- Organic compounds of hydrogen and carbon; in extraction, solvents such as butane and propane.
- Hydrocarbon extraction Extraction
- Extraction using hydrocarbon solvents in a closed loop system.
- Inline filtration Equipment
- Filter media placed in the flow path of a closed loop system to remove unwanted material.
- Input material Products
- Whatever plant material goes into an extraction run.
- Isomer Chemistry
- Molecules with the same formula but different structures.
- Jacketed vessel Equipment
- A vessel with an outer jacket through which heating or cooling fluid circulates.
- Kief Products
- Loose trichomes separated from the plant by dry sifting.
- KPI Compliance/Industry
- Key performance indicator, such as yield, uptime or cost per gram.
- Leak check Equipment
- An inspection to confirm a closed system holds without leaking, done per manufacturer guidance.
- Live resin Products
- Concentrate made from fresh frozen material to preserve the living plant's terpene profile.
- Live rosin Products
- Solventless rosin made from fresh frozen material.
- Lockout/tagout Compliance/Industry
- Procedures that isolate energy sources before maintenance so equipment cannot start unexpectedly.
- Mass balance Compliance/Industry
- Accounting for all inputs and outputs so inventory reconciles.
- Mock audit Compliance/Industry
- A practice inspection run like a real audit to find gaps before regulators do.
- Monoterpene Chemistry
- Lighter, more volatile terpenes such as limonene and myrcene.
- MSDS / SDS Compliance/Industry
- Safety data sheet describing a chemical's hazards and handling.
- Nucleation Chemistry
- The first formation of tiny crystals that larger crystals grow from.
- Passive recovery Extraction
- Solvent recovery driven by temperature differences without a recovery pump.
- PHO Extraction
- Propane hash oil: concentrate extracted with propane.
- Post-processing Extraction
- Everything done to an extract after extraction to reach the finished product.
- PPE Compliance/Industry
- Personal protective equipment such as gloves, eye protection and flame-resistant clothing.
- PSM Compliance/Industry
- Process safety management, a framework for managing hazardous processes.
- Purging Extraction
- Removing residual solvent from an extract to meet state limits.
- QA / QC Compliance/Industry
- Quality assurance (systems) and quality control (testing and inspection).
- Recovery pump Equipment
- A pump or compressor that moves solvent vapor back to the tank during recovery.
- Remediation Compliance/Industry
- Treating a failed batch to bring it into compliance, where state rules allow.
- Residual solvents Compliance/Industry
- Solvent remaining in a finished product, tested against state limits.
- Rosin Products
- Solventless concentrate made by applying heat and pressure to flower or hash.
- Rosin press Equipment
- Equipment that applies heat and pressure to make rosin.
- Sauce Products
- A concentrate of THCa crystals in a terpene-rich liquid.
- Seed-to-sale Compliance/Industry
- State-mandated tracking of cannabis from plant to sale, e.g. METRC or BioTrack.
- Separation Products
- How cleanly diamonds separate from HTFSE.
- Sesquiterpene Chemistry
- Heavier, less volatile terpenes such as caryophyllene.
- Shatter Products
- A glassy, translucent concentrate that breaks like glass.
- Short-path distillation Extraction
- Distillation where vapor travels a short distance to the condenser, used to make distillate.
- Sight glass Equipment
- A clear window in equipment to observe flow inside.
- Solventless Extraction
- Concentrates made without chemical solvents, such as rosin and bubble hash.
- SOP Compliance/Industry
- Standard operating procedure: an approved, step-by-step document for a task.
- Spec / specification Compliance/Industry
- The acceptance criteria a product or material must meet.
- SQF Compliance/Industry
- Safe Quality Food, a food safety and quality certification program.
- Sugar Products
- A grainy, wet concentrate texture resembling wet sugar.
- Supercritical Chemistry
- A state where a substance has properties of both liquid and gas, used in CO2 extraction.
- Terp sauce Products
- Informal name for sauce or HTFSE.
- Terpenes Chemistry
- Aromatic compounds responsible for cannabis aroma and flavor.
- THC Chemistry
- Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main intoxicating cannabinoid.
- THCa Chemistry
- Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, the non-intoxicating acidic precursor of THC in raw cannabis.
- Throughput Compliance/Industry
- The amount of material processed in a period.
- Time study Compliance/Industry
- Measuring how long each step of a job takes to find waste and balance work.
- Tincture Products
- A liquid cannabis product, usually in alcohol or oil.
- Toll processing Compliance/Industry
- Processing another company's material for a fee.
- Trichomes Products
- Resin glands on cannabis that contain cannabinoids and terpenes.
- Uptime Compliance/Industry
- The share of scheduled time equipment is available to run.
- Vacuum oven Equipment
- An oven that operates under vacuum, used in post-processing.
- Vacuum pump Equipment
- A pump that removes air or vapor to create vacuum.
- Water pump Equipment
- A pump that circulates water or coolant through support equipment.
- Wax Products
- An opaque, soft concentrate texture.
- Winterization Extraction
- Removing fats and waxes from an extract, traditionally with ethanol and cold.
- Wiped film distillation Extraction
- A distillation method that spreads oil in a thin film, suited to larger volumes.
- Workflow audit Compliance/Industry
- A review of how material, people and data move through a lab.
- Yield Compliance/Industry
- Output divided by input, usually as a percentage.
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Educational definitions only, not operating instructions. Follow your state regulations.
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