The terminology used to describe cannabinoid content in plants is percentage. But how does it work? If a plant is said to contain 10% THC:

A) Is the THC measured by the total weight of the plant? Just like DMT in mimosa? In this case 100g of plant material contains 10g pure THC (10%).

B) Or is this percentage based on the specific cannabinoid to the full cannabinoid profile? Eg. If a plant is says to contain 10% THC, does it mean that 1/10 of of the cannabinoid profile is THC and 9/10 are other cannabinoids? Meaning if you manage to extract the full spectrum of cannabinoids out of plant material, 10% of the extract will be THC and 90% will be other cannabinoids. Disregarding how much the extract weights in total relative to the plant material used.

I always assumed A). But some plants have 15-20% THC. I can't image 1/5 of a total plant weight including the stems etc consists of cannabinoids. So should it be B)? And if it is B, what is a common ratio of cannabinoids to plant weight?

The reason I am asking is I'll be doing some experimentation with extractions. I want to calculate the amount of THC in mg per plant weight in said % given for the specific plant. So if I extract 200g of plants which are said to contain 10% THC, how much THC could result in mg (if the extraction is 100% efficient, which is an other story of course).

As always, thanks for you help

It's A)

1g of dry flower, THC(A) content 10% = 100mg of THC(A)

Makes sense, since the active dose of THC is ~7-15mg and only 20% is available thru inhalation (the rest burns or won't get absorbed). It's even 6% thru oral consumption.







If it's 200g of dry flowers, then it will be 20g. If it's 200g of whole plant material then it's considerably less.

Not sure if a stated % content would accurately predict an extract yield. I don't extract THC so don't know other than basic mechanics of BHO etc. I do know that there is a good amount of debate over the accuracy of canna test labs though, for a variety of reasons. A grower may choose the best tops to test for marketing. There is a wide range of cannabanoid content from flower to flower, even on the same plant, let alone across a garden.

I have no idea of what that variable is though.

Let us know how it goes, and how accurate your hypothetical yields reflect actual ones, for the sake of science!



Really? Does the 6% reflect "cooked" cannabis, or the consumption of raw flower? That would explain some if my difficulty with reliably getting an effect from edibles. I want to switch due to lung issues, but have no idea how to consistently dose. On any given day, one of a friends caramels will stone me good, on another, I can eat three and drive.

That's what science has to say:

I am also somewhat surprised by these numbers. I would not have expected oral dosing to be more than three times less effective than smoking. In fact, all I knew is that most cannabis freak-outs happen with unexpectedly strong oral doses.

Null24, was the cannabis, from which the edibles was prepared, properly decarboxylated? A sizable amount of cannabinoids in the plant is present in the form of acids, but these are not psychoactive (I think they do not pass the blood-brain barrier?) AFAIK the acid form does have most of the other medicinal effects. This may be relevant to users who want these effects specifically, but who would rather do without most of the CNS activity.

In order to convert the THCA into THC (and CBDA into CBD), the plant or extract has to be heated strongly for some time. I am not sure if the inner temperature of edibles in an oven will reach high enough temperatures for this to be effective enough if baking time is relatively short. What may work more reliably is to dissolve the buds or hashish in hot butter or oil in a pan and to heat this for a few minutes (without burning the butter or oil) before adding it as an ingredient of the edibles.

Perhaps the amount of fats in the edibles (fats are good solvents for THC and CBD) is another relevant factor?

Thanks null24, I will keep you guys updated and will probably ask for some advice along the way.

Ufostrahlen, excellent sources. Thanks for the clear answer. Understood.

For my extraction project I want to get my hands on industrial hemp. A cheap resource. The cannabinoid profile usually consist mainly of CBD. Most hemps 2-5% CBD.

Looking at cbd oil... Clicking on a random google result, on webshop sells bottles of 300mg CBD for 39 usd. Thats 0.13 usd/mg. Googling on, most webshops sell CBD @ 0.10-0.20 usd/mg.

But if a hemp plants weight 100g (I'm just guessing, its probably more) and you have a field of 100 hemp plants (not even a field, but small garden), it adds up to 10kg of hemp. If hemp contains 5% CBD, thats 500g of CBD (if extracted 100% efficient). 500g = 500000 mg. 500000 mg cbd x 0.10 usd = 50000 usd. Thats 500 usd per plant, same as illigal weed. Does this make sense or am I calculating something wrong? If not I'm growing a acre of industrial hemp, extract it and retire..

I guess you're not the first who had this thought.



But on the other hand, the operation isn't a one man show.

Yeah, I've been watching the cbd market develop over the past few years. Great stuff. (Other than the many rip offs) However I never calculated the revenue before.

If you have:
- a hectare of land (100 x 100 m is super small for farming standards)
- grow 1 plant per m2 (could be denser, probably up to 4 plants/m2)
- 100 g of plant weight per plant (will be more, probably up to 300g)
- have 2% CBD (several have 5%, others even 10%)
- a cbd price of 0.10 usd / mg

thats:
- 10,000 plants x 100 g = 1 ton (1,000 kg) of plant material.
(But I read 10 ton of industrial hemp per hectare is possible)
- 1,000 kg x 0.02% = 20 kg cbd = 20,000,000 mg x 0.10 usd = 2 million usd!

2 million usd revenue from 1 hectare of land! Calculated very, very pessimistically. So will probably be much more if you do it right and optimize correctly.

Why is this stuff so expensive???

Super critical CO2 cost a lot yes. But why not use a simple ethanol extraction? Even if its 50% less efficient, who cares.

I'm sure this price can't last long ones more companies get involved. This is ludicrous.

Laboratory expenses? Labor expenses? Rent on the land? Packing? Stocking? Distribution? Paying the 17% interest on your company credit?

0.10 euro / mg is the end consumer price. The wholesale price is very likely < 0.05 € / mg. So your 2 Mio are actually 1 Mio or considerably less. Plus the price drops once you have more competitors entering the market (market equilibrium theory).

But hey, even if your profit is 100,000€, that's not bad. Write a business plan and go to your bank.

edit: it's not only the CBD that's valuable. AFAIK the market craves for hemp fibers, e.g. a C-class Mercedes has (had?) over 20kg of hemp in each car (Source google).

Haha yes yet so many plans..

Too bad USA is lagging. There are enormous hemp fields in several european countries already. Let alone China. Car doors, housing isolation, hempcrete, fabrics, paper etc. All much cheaper, easier, eco friendlier to produce and of superior quality to current materials.

And the innovation continues.. Plastic can be made from it now. 3D printing filament will follow soon. And research is underway to turn its fibers into graphene like properties for battery /super capacitors applications and such.

Then there is the bio fuel option. I've read if you plant 10% hemp on all productive farms in the US, it can power all US cars.

And finally dont forget the medical side. The list of known /possible cures is too long to name.

This plant truly is a gift from the gods (i mean aliens who planted it here). No wonder it got suppressed for so long. But the hemp revolution is upon us!

Happy days