METHOD FOR EXTRACTING ACTIVE COMPONENTS FROM PLANTS AND DEVICES FOR SUCH PURPOSE

Abstract

A method and apparatus for extracting active components from a plant material by: introducing the material containing the active components in an extraction chamber: introducing a hydrofluorocarbonated compound in a tank at a pressure between 482.6 kPa and 1,447.9 kPa (70 psi to 210 psi): introducing ethanol in a receptacle; mixing the hydrofluorocarbonated compound with ethanol; allowing the mixture to reach the plant material; allowing the mixture enriched with ethanol and the hydrofluorocarbonated compound to flow out of the extraction chamber and into a tank; allowing the ethanol to evaporate and become separated from the residual mixture slower than the hydrofluorocarbonated compound; optionally, the hydrofluorocarbonated compound is recovered by condensing and returning it to the pressurised tank; optionally, the ethanol is recovered by condensing and returning it to the mixing receptacle.

Claims

1. A method of extracting active components from a plant material comprising the following steps: introducing the plant material containing the active components in an extraction chamber; introducing a hydrofluorocarbonated compound (HFC) with a dielectric constant between 7 and 10 into a tank that has a pressure between 482.6 kPa and 1447.9 kPa (70 psi to 210 psi); introducing ethanol in a receptacle; mixing the hydrofluorocarbonated compound (HFC) with the ethanol in proportions between 90%-99% for HFCs and 1%-10% for ethanol at pressures equal to or less than 896.3 kPa (130 psi); percolating the mixture of the hydrofluorocarbonated compound (HFC) and ethanol through the plant material found in the extraction chamber; evacuating the enriched mixture of ethanol, the compound of interest, and the hydrofluorocarbonated solvent from the extraction chamber into a receptacle at ambient pressure conditions, wherein the hydrofluorocarbon compound evaporates immediately, separating from the mixture; evaporating and separating the ethanol from the residual at ambient conditions or by a current of hot air stream to obtain an oil with the active components of the plant material.

2. The extraction method according to claim 1, wherein the plant material is previously dried.

3. The extraction method according to claim 1, wherein the plant material is previously ground.

4. The extraction method according to claim 1, wherein the hydrofluorocarbonated compound is chosen from 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane, pentafluoroethane, 1,1,1, trifluoroethane, difluoromethane, dichlorodifluoromethane, or mixtures thereof.

5. The extraction method according to claim 1, wherein the plant material is chosen from Cannabis sativa, Coffea arabica, or Annona muricata.

6. An apparatus for extracting active components from a plant comprising: a pressurized tank (20;200) for storing hydrofluorocarbonated compounds; a container for storing ethanol (30); an extraction chamber (10, 100) to deposit the plant material to be treated; a device (350) and/or container (30) for mixing the ethanol with the hydrofluorocarbonated compound; pipes connecting the hydrofluorocarbonated compound storage tank (20; 200), the ethanol storage container (30), the device (350) and/or container (30) for mixing ethanol with the hydrofluorocarbonated compound, and the extraction chamber (10;100) to deposit plant material; an exhaust pipe outlet; a receiving container (50; 500) of the enriched mixture of hydrofluorocarbonated, ethanol, and plant extract; control valves located in intermediate parts of the pipes to control the flow of fluids.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the apparatus does not recover hydrofluorocarbons.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the apparatus recovers hydrofluorocarbons.

9. The extraction method according to claim 1, wherein the hydrofluorocarbonated compound is recovered by condensing it and returning it to the pressurized tank.

10. The extraction method according to claim 1, wherein the ethanol is recovered by condensing it and returning it to the mixing receptacle.

11. The apparatus for extracting active components according to claim 6, further including a device for the recovery of hydrofluorocarbonated compounds comprising: a pipe at a top of the receiving container (500) of the enriched mixture to remove the vapors of the hydrofluorocarbonated compound; a recovery pump (600) for hydrofluorocarbonated vapors connected to the pipe that comes from the recent receipt; piping that leads the hydrofluorocarbonated recovered from the recovery pump to a recovery tank (700); and the recovery tank (700) storages the hydrofluorocarbonated compounds.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0054] FIG. 1 illustrates an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention without recovery of hydrofluorocarbons.

[0055] FIG. 2 illustrates an apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention with recovery of hydrofluorocarbons.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0056] The same strain of Cannabis sativa L was harvested, dried and ground for extraction with the proposed extraction methodology, using equipment designed by the inventors. The starting weight of plant material for each test was 50 g, the amount of HFC solvent specifically 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane was 340 g and the extraction time was 40 minutes in all cases. The extraction procedure was exactly the same with the only introduction of a variable in the system, which is the amount of coeluent added, in this case the coeluent was 96% ethanol.

[0057] The ground plant material is introduced into the device, leaving a headspace for the placement of a glass container with a variable amount of eluant. In all cases, the system was tested for hermeticity to reduce uncertainty.

[0058] Once the system is closed, the HFC is slowly released, which, when decompressed, promotes a phenomenon that absorbs energy from its surroundings, causing the temperature of the co-eluent located in the headspace to drop and mixing slowly until it overflows to finally flood the extraction chamber. The residence time of the plant material with the extraction mixture is 40 minutes counted with a stopwatch. After this time, the system is depressurized by opening the outlet valve located at the bottom of the device and allowing the exit of the complex mixture enriched with the compounds of interest.

[0059] Once the extraction mixture is evaporated, at room temperature and pressure, the result is a saturated solution of oil with a few grams of ethanol, which can be evaporated by leaving the container open or with the help of a hot air gun.

[0060] The oil obtained was weighed to determine the weight yield and subsequently analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography for the quantitative determination of the cannabinoids THC, THCA, CBD, CBA and CBG.

[0061] 8 experiments were selected within the trial where the HFC/coeluent ratio was varied as shown in the tables below.

[0062] The first table shows the weight yield, that is, how the amount of oil that is extracted varies as a function of the amount of coeluent added.

TABLE-US-00002 Empty Bottle Vegetal bottle weight plus Extract Material Coeluent weight extract Weight Yield (g) (g) (g) (g) (g) % El 53.95 0 141.18 141.89 0.71 1.32% E2 50.54 2 51.63 52.25 0.62 1.23% E3 50.64 5 52.49 53.45 0.96 1.90% E4 50.5 8 51.78 54 2.22 4.40% E5 50.24 10 51.74 54.16 2.42 4.82% E6 50.29 12 51.72 53.89 2.17 4.31% E7 50.02 15 51.84 55.16 3.32 6.64% E8 50.04 20 51.9 55.8 3.9 7.79%

[0063] The following table shows the yield of the extraction in composition of cannabinoids.

TABLE-US-00003 Total mg Weight Total mg CBD CBG CBDA CBN THC THCA % cannabinoids extract cannabinoids El 0.9 1.14 Nd 0.91 31.9 3.74 38.59 385.9 0.7 274.0 E2 0.96 1.18 Nd 0.89 30.56 3.28 36.87 368.7 0.6 228.6 E3 0.83 1.09 Nd 0.83 31.53 2.56 36.84 368.4 1.0 353.7 E4 0.92 1.19 Nd 0.8 32.48 1.66 37.05 370.5 2.2 822.5 E5 0.7 1.01 Nd 0.69 29.34 1.4 33.14 331.4 2.4 802.0 E6 0.79 1.24 Nd 0.76 36.18 1.83 40.8 408.0 2.2 885.4 E7 0.8 1.3 Nd 0.71 34.87 1.23 38.91 389.1 3.3 1291.8 E8 0.72 1.18 Nd 0.7 31.24 1.03 34.87 348.7 3.9 1359.9