Análisis de la recuperación de terpenos y cannabinoides provenientes del cannabis utilizando destilación de película agitada al vacío

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Sánchez Castañeda, Santiago

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Español

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The cannabis industry in Colombia and the world faces crucial challenges in process stan- dardization, aiming to deliver high-quality and reproducible products during cultivation and establishment. In this context, the intersection of quality and productivity plays a crucial role in the industry. This has led to a series of optimizations in the stages of the medicinal cannabis value chain. In this case, simultaneous modifications were made to the internal condensation temperature (TIC) and evaporation (TEV), feed pump frequency (FBA), and system pressure (PIN) to recognize the variation in the selected responses in the short-path distillation equipment belonging to Medcolcanna (MCCN). The objective was to establish optimal conditions to increase process yield without compro- mising the quality of the final distillate. To achieve this, the response surface methodology was implemented, allowing for modeling and prediction of the responses such as predominant cannabinoid potency (POT), mass yield of the distillate (RMA), separation efficiency (EFI), and total cannabinoids content in the distillate (CTO) by simultaneously modifying the pro- cess parameters. The implementation of this methodology proved to be effective, finding that for CBD-dominant distillation, the conditions of 172°C for TEV, 125°C for TIC, 5 Pa for PIN, and 10 for FBA resulted in a potency (POT) of 78.47 ± 2.63 %, mass yield (RMA) of 64.07 ± 2.19 %, and an efficiency (EFI) of 92.67 ± 3.86 %. Additionally, distillates with THC predominance highlighted the importance of cannabis variety, as other cannabinoids present in the distillate stood out compared to CBD distillate. Therefore, the cannabinoid separation stage was in line with expectations, obtaining total cannabinoids (CTO) of 86.39 ± 2.36 %, RMA of 62.34 ± 2.22 %, EFI of 83.35 ± 4.24 %, and POT of 53.49 ± 1.49 %. With these achievements, Medcolcanna, a leading company in the industry, was able to obtain distillates with interesting specifications for the market and subsequent processes. Furthermore, they achieved an increase in CBD-dominant distillate production from 1.0 to 5.5 kg/h and started distilling at a flow rate of 1.8 kg/h for high-THC varieties. These advancements enable the company to efficiently and safely deliver high-quality products, meeting the demands of a constantly developing market. Lastly, in the search for terpenes, which play a crucial role in the organoleptic and thera- peutic properties of the final products, it was evident that the sample preparation process for distillation directly influences the quantity of these compounds for the operation. Ap- proximately 76.41 % of them are lost between the flower and the full-spectrum extract, and only 5.34 % is recovered in the distillate. Therefore, it is suggested to recover these types of compounds in pre-distillation operations or even modify the value chain to avoid thermal processes that decrease the recovery.

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