Patent Application
20230189870
The present invention relates to more efficient ways of coating and preserving herbage to yield a consistent herbal product that can be smoked, steeped or eaten. More particularly this invention relates to cannabinoid-coated herbage having an improved shelf life and a standardized cannabinoid profile.
The term herbage is any herbal substrate that can be consumed by humans. Consumption can be orally via the digestive tract. Tea, soft drinks and edible products are example of orally consumed products. Consumption can also be smokable via the pulmonary pathway. Thus, herbage may be cannabis, or any herbage commonly smoked, steeped or eaten. Steeped herbage is commonly used in teas and bottled beverages.
In one use case of the present invention, a crystalline tetrahydrocannabinolic acid “THCA” coating is applied to cannabis flower to achieve a standardized potency. Standardization is important for medicinal applications. It can be appreciated that alternate embodiments substitute the crystalline tetrahydrocannabinolic acid THCA coating with crystalline cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), crystalline cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), crystalline tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid (THCVA) or any other cannabinoids in crystalline form, and combinations thereof.
Cannabis customers outside of the medical sphere also desire cannabis flower (“bud”) having a predictable cannabinoid concentration, and a consistent cannabinoid profile. Standardization delivers a consistent smell, flavor, smoothness, and bioactivity to a user. Standardization does include the bioactivity of cannabinoids, including THC. “THC” usually refers to the trans-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Standardization also can deliver consistency in aroma and flavor when flavonoids, aromatic components and terpenes are utilized.
In accord with the present invention, a batch of cannabis biomass is harvested, the flowers are separated and trimmed for distribution. The clippings (“trim”) and leaves are collected and utilized in a parallel process to extract terpenes, flavonoids, other aromatic components, and cannabinoids, which can be added back into the cannabis flower product of the present invention in any of various forms, such as crystallized cannabinoids and terpene coatings.
Standardized extracts in the herbal industry arose to satisfy the need to create a uniform product for clinical trials. The present invention includes a standardized cannabis flower that has a standardized cannabinoid content, and also herbage with a standardized cannabinoid coating. The standardized cannabis flower or herbage of the present invention can be smoked, steeped into an infused beverage, or used as a food ingredient.
Standardization typically takes two forms. One is based on identifying and quantifying an extract to a characteristic chemical marker compound. The second, identifies and concentrates an array of active constituents. In the present invention the total cannabinoid content is standardized. In an alternate embodiment the total tetrahydrocannabinol (THCtotal) content is standardized.
The present invention is different than known standardization of products, because the product to be standardized is not an extract per se, but raw herbage. The way standardization is accomplished includes beginning with a batch of cannabis biomass. The biomass is processed and the flowers trimmed. The next step is coating the trimmed cannabis flowers from the batch, with a crystalline form of THCA or other cannabinoids derived from trim and leaves of this batch of cannabis biomass from which that the cannabis flower originated.
The crystal size (diameter) is adapted to increase the THCtotal, which is THC+(THCA×0.877) to a desired consistent or standardized level. Since trace cannabinoids are typically less than 1% of the total cannabinoid content of a cannabis flower, the THCtotal value roughly equals the total cannabinoid content the herbage or cannabis flower. The constant 0.877 is used because THCA is reduced by a factor of 0.877 when reduced by heat to THC during smoking. Preferably, the crystal diameter is less than 100 microns, on average.
In particular, cannabinoids, primarily THCA, are processed to yield crystals that are pure i.e. over 90% THCA, and which can be powdered or granulated to desired sizes and applied to the cannabis flower to yield a standardized product, having a consistent total amount of THCtotal. The standardized product can also be engineered to achieve consistent or standardized levels of selected other cannabinoids found in the cannabis biomass.
The size of the granulated crystals can be adjusted to regulate the amount of cannabinoids that adheres to the cannabis flower. With other factors being equal, the average granule diameter determines coating thickness. Regulating the coating thickness through granule size management is a preferred manner in which standardization results according to one embodiment of the invention.
In one embodiment, the granule size is typically less than 25-100 microns, and is less than 20-70 microns in another embodiment, and in yet another embodiment, is less than 60 microns. In an embodiment with a very thin film, the granule size is between 10-20 micron, and is nearly invisible to achieve less than 2% of the total cannabinoid content of the cannabis flower product.
The granule size determines coating thickness and, thus, the THCtotal content of the cannabis flower, or herbage product in accord with the present invention. THCtotal is determined on a weight to weight w:w basis and is the percentage of total THC to the total weight of the herbage or cannabis bud.
THC is a Δ9 tetrahydrocannabinol isomer. While THC can be formed into a glass-like sheet called shatter, or a distillate powder, it does not naturally crystallize under most conditions.
THCA, however, can naturally crystallize when in a concentrated solution. In ideal conditions THCA crystals naturally form without heat or agitation or any particular catalyst. Some believe that it is easier under most circumstances to use crystallization to concentrate THCA than it is to concentrate THC.
THCA has two major isomers, THCA-A, in which the carboxylic acid group is in the 1 position, between the hydroxy group and the carbon chain, and THCA-B, in which the carboxylic acid group is in the 3 position, following the carbon chain. Both isomers, when crystallized, typically have a colorless appearance. The terms “tetrahydrocannabinolic acid”, and “THCA”, as used herein includes either one of these isomers, or a combination of both.
Many customers of cannabis products believe that naturally occurring components are desirable and additives and adjuncts are less desirable. This is especially true for smokable products, products used in a tea, and edible products. It can be generalized that customers like natural products because there is less perceived risk of toxicity.
Cannabis flower (sometimes termed “bud”) and other biomass can be fortified to improved the total cannabinoid content. The sum of detected THC and THCA is typically a fair estimate the total cannabinoid content in marijuana because these are the most abundant cannabinoids.
Market research indicates that people that smoke cannabis flower prefer an incremental dosing regime, i.e. smoking over a period of time with more than one inhalation. Thus, the desirable concentration of cannabinoids in cannabis flower or bud should be kept below a threshold level to enable moderate users of cannabis to enjoy more than one inhalation of smokable cannabis flower in a smoking session. More preferably, a standardized cannabis flower product is provided.
What is desired is a way of fortifying smokable cannabis flower or bud that preserves volatile terpenes, is visually pleasing, and that does not radically increase the total cannabinoid content of the total cannabis flower or bud material.
What is also desired is a way of making a cannabis product for smoking, tea making, or for edibles that is consistent in terms of total cannabinoid content, cannabinoid profiles, and terpene profiles.
The present invention is a fortified cannabis flower material with a thin layer of crystallized THCA to, in some cases, create a glitter-like aesthetic, to seal the cannabis flower to reduce volatilization of various terpenes, flavonoids and aromatic components, and to gently increase the total cannabinoid content of the cannabis flower to yield a standardized cannabis flower. Ideally the standardized cannabis flower will have a total cannabinoid content that does not vary more than 3% between batches, and preferably less than 1% between batches.
More specifically the present invention includes a sprayed or otherwise applied coating of THCA crystals sufficient to create a semi-reflective coating on the cannabis flower or bud. The semi-reflective coating including visible granules of THCA having an average crystalline diameter of less than 25 microns, and which can be further ground to less than 12 microns to regulate coating thickness and enable standardization of THCA per weight of cannabis flower. In one embodiment the THCA crystals having an average diameter between 10-100 microns and the coating crystal size is sufficiently regulated to add 10% more THCA than found naturally in the cannabis flower.
One preferred method of preparing the surface of the cannabis flower is to gently heat it to between ambient temperature to 100 degrees F. This allows natural oils to leach to the surface of the cannabis flower to enable crystallized cannabinoids (granules or powdered form) to be applied and adhere to the surface of the cannabis flower. The cannabis flower is tumbled at this temperature with a crystallized powder or granules of cannabinoids that adhere to the warmed surface of the cannabis flower. In another embodiment, a shaker is used to shake the cannabis flower with the crystallized powder or granules of cannabinoids.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the crystallized granules or powdered form of cannabinoids is applied as a second coating to the cannabis flower. In this embodiment, a first coating of THC is applied prior to the second coating to create a sticky surface for the crystallized cannabinoids to adhere.
It can be appreciated that while cannabis flower is disclosed herein, the use of cannabis flower is optional and the cannabis flower can be replaced with any other flower or herbage sought to be coated with a consistent and standardized crystalline coating of cannabinoids.
It can also be appreciated that this invention is disclosed in terms of THC and THCA usage as the primary cannabinoids, that trace cannabinoids can also be crystallized and applied to herbage in the same manner as described in the manner that THC and THCA are described. In one embodiment, for example, a mixture of crystallized THCA and CBDA are applied in crystal form.
In another embodiment, CBN is applied as a mixture with THC as a first coating to the cannabis flower (or other herbage) to enable THCA to be adhered to the surface of the cannabis flower. In this embodiment, various non-cannabinoid plant components such as terpenes, flavonoids, and aromatic components extracted from the non-flower portions of a cannabis plant can be re-introduced to the cannabis flower of the same cannabis plant. In this way active terpenes, flavonoids, and aromatic components can be used to bolster flavor, smell and bio-activity of the cannabis flower material.
In all embodiments, the combined cannabinoids applied can be adjusted to yield a consistent cannabinoid profile of any product of the present invention. Further, the non-cannabinoid plant components of the plant from which the cannabis flower was derived can be extracted and re-introduced to the flower material to yield a consistent non-cannabinoid plant component profile without additives.
The combination of the cannabinoid and non-cannabinoid plant components can be adjusted and re-introduced to the flower material to yield a consistent cannabinoid and non-cannabinoid profile to extend shelf life, or to fortify the flavor, smell, look or bio-efficacy of the cannabis flower. This yields a more valuable product when compared to untreated control cannabis flowers.
While the use of the combination of cannabis flower and non-flower components from the same cannabis plant are described, the combination can also be derived from particular batches of cannabis plants having a single variety or shared genetic profile.
In one embodiment of the invention, a cannabis flower material for medical studies, patient recommendation, or prescription can be provided as a product of the present invention. This medical product can have a standardized amount of particular cannabinoids or non-cannabinoid components to deliver to a subject or patient under medical care. Accordingly, the present invention includes a “standardized” medical marijuana flower, “standardized” medical marijuana tea, and “standardized” medical marijuana edibles when the standardized medical marijuana flower of the present invention is combined with, and delivered as a bioactive dose of a food product.
The cannabis flower or bud has an initial total cannabinoid content, and application of the coating increases the cannabinoid content by no more than 10% in one embodiment of the invention.
In another embodiment of the invention, the coating is applied by spraying the cannabis flower or bud. In a variation of this invention, the coating is applied by painting the coating on the cannabis flower or bud. In yet another embodiment, the coating is applied by tumbling the cannabis flower or bud in a tumbler with the coating material.
In one embodiment, the coating material includes a first coating of THC and a second coating of THCA granules or powder. The THC enables the THCA granules or powder to stick to the cannabis flower or bud.
In another embodiment of the invention, the coating is applied to plant biomass or herbage that is not cannabis flower. For example the present invention can be applied to other smokable herbage such as tobacco leaves, or catnip flowers.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the coating is thin, and represents less than 10% of the weight of the herbage that is coated. In the case of cannabis flower, the coating increases the total cannabinoid content by no more than 10% in a preferred embodiment. More preferably, the cannabinoid content is increased by 1-2%, having a primary purpose of standardizing the total cannabinoid content across multiple cannabis flowers in at least one batch. Standardization by regulating the total cannabinoid content across multiple batches to enable a consistent product for customers, medical professionals, and scientific researchers.
Preferably, the total cannabinoid content is the sum total of tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabinol, and cannabigerol in both acid and non-acid forms in the coating and in the cannabis flower.
In a variation of a preferred embodiment, the coating includes a 1:1 ratio of THC to THCA. This optimizes preservation of volatile components of the cannabis flower or bud, strengthens the flower structure to make the coated cannabis flower and bud more stackable and transportable without structural degradation, reflects a portion of incident light, including UVA and UVB light, that could degrade cannabinoids in the cannabis flower.
In an alternate embodiment, the ratio of coating to the cannabis flower on a weight to weight basis is no more than 1:10 to enable moderate cannabinoid consumption via smoking, or stated differently to enable a user to enjoy smoking more than one inhalation without excessive psychoactive effects.
Preferably the total cannabinoid content of the coating cannabis flower or coated non-cannabis herbage, is 20-35% on a weight to weight basis. The cannabinoid content is predominantly THCtotal, which is the sum of both THCA and THC, adjusted by the conversion constant 0.877 multiplied by the THCA number to compensate for the reduction of THCA during conversion to THC when heated such as during smoking. Simply stated THCtotal=THC+[(0.877)×THCA]. Total cannabinoid content may include other cannabinoids in trace amounts, in accordance with the cannabis biomass that is processed, but the amount of trace cannabinoids are typically mathematically insignificant.
A method of one embodiment of the present invention includes utilizing two primary steps to yield a concentrated THC cannabis product that is purple in color without the use of dyes or additives. This THC cannabis concentrate product can be modified in various post processing steps to make shatter or distillate having aroma and flavor, without additives not found in the original cannabis material used for the process. Various consumer products can be manufactured using the post processed THC product, which typically is purple in color, having at least 90% THC content. Such consumer products may be engineered to have a desirable flavor and aroma. The form of this concentrated THC product can be a glass-like shatter product or packaged distillate, for example. More preferably the consumer products have a greater than 95% THC content.
The first step is to use a centrifuge to achieve THCA separation. Optimally this is accomplished by centrifuging rosin press filter bags of cannabis material and including a suitable solvent such as pentane or hexane. In various alternate embodiments, the filter bags are replaced with stainless steel baskets or other shape 20-30 micron filters. Preferably the filter has an average of 25 micron pore diameter size in all embodiments. The coating process of the present invention may be two steps. A first step is to spray liquefied THC on the cannabis flower, or other herbage, the second step is to apply THCA crystals in the form of powder or granules onto to the liquefied THC. Liquefied THC may be in the form of whole plant extract cannabis oil.
The pentane partially, or fully saturates, the cannabis material. Preferably the cannabis material is full spectrum cannabis oil having at least 60% THCA content. The filter bags have pores with an average diameter of 25 microns to retain THCA within the bags during the centrifuge process. This concentrates the THCA to over 95% purity, and often over 98% purity, yielding a first concentrated THCA product. This is a very fast an efficient way to achieve a concentrated THCA product. The THCA crystals may agglomerate to a final size of 100 microns, 60 microns, or other size optimized for a desired coating thickness. This size may be adjusted smaller by grinding, or adjusted larger by enabling further agglomeration. Preferably, the crystalline average diameter does not exceed 100 microns to enable a thin coating.
The first step also yields a wash bi-product including THCA, terpenes and pentane solvent, which are recoverable using conventional processes such as high pressure liquid chromatography, ethanol distillation, or a mechanical means such as a centrifuge.
Both the first concentrated THCA product and THCA can be recovered from the wash bi-product and decarboxylated into a viscous liquid having at least 95% THC concentration.
Alternatively, the wash bi-product can be lightly purged and then introduced to other products. It is possible to extract pure terpenes from the wash bi-product, and these pure terpenes can be selectively mixed with a purple shatter product in accord with the present invention to add flavor and aroma, without degrading the integrity of the purple shatter product either in texture, hardness and color. In a preferred embodiment, the pure terpenes constitute no more than 1-2% of the shatter product.
In an alternate embodiment the wash bi-product can be introduced into a purple THC product used as vaporizable oil, packaged for use in a vaporizer cartridge, or packaged in a vaporizer cartridge. In this embodiment, the terpene level can be up to 10%. Optimally, the product packaged for and used in a vaporizer cartridge has a THC concentration between 95%-99%.
The second step is to introduce the decarboxylated THC product into a wiped film evaporator, which is technically a short path evaporator that uses a thin film and a mechanical blade to speed the process of distillation/evaporation. The wiped film evaporator is primarily used to oxidize the concentrated THC product. This transforms the concentrated THC product on a continuous basis into a thin film that is wiped by a rotating blade to rapidly oxidize the concentrated THC product and thereby yield an oxidized THC product that is purple in color.
In an alternate embodiment of the product of the invention, various terpenes are mixed into the oxidized THC product to provide aroma and flavor. These various terpenes typically do not arise to more than 1-2% of the terpene-infused alternate product.
In yet another alternate embodiment, the oxidized THC product is processed again in the wiped film evaporator to achieve an above 99% purity and to assure optimal oxidation. This step may repeat.
In a variation of the step of using the centrifuge, the cannabis material is saturated by dripping pentane onto it and bagging the saturated cannabis material in a filter bag having a 25 micron pore size, a stainless steel basket having 25 micron pore sizes, or other filter. The step of centrifuging the saturated cannabis material whisks a wash bi-product from the cannabis material out of the filter bag via the 25 micron pores. This wash bi-product is a high terpene extract (HTE) and contains some THCA along with terpenes, which are both recoverable.
The centrifuged THCA product is provide quickly and may immediately yield over half of the THCA available, in a pure form. In parallel, the high terpene extract (HTE) byproduct can be conventionally processed to yield THCA. The HTE byproduct also includes terpenes and residual pentane that can be processed conventionally. Thus both methods are utilized in parallel. The amount of material conventionally processed is halved to achieve manufacturing efficiency.
Recovery of THCA from the HTE entails removing or evaporating the pentane and re-dissolving the dry HTE in butane. This enables the THCA to crystallize in the butane rich environment.
In another embodiment, the recovery of THCA from the HTE entails placing the HTE into a sealed container such as a jar, and spinning the container of the HTE in the centrifuge. Removing the jar enables formation of pure THCA crystals over time to improve yield of the THCA product.
Simply stated, a number of ways are used to process the wash bi-product to re-crystallize and to recover THCA that was not initially recovered in the filter bag. An advantage of stems from the fact that that the bi-product wash can be speedily processed via conventional and mechanical means while the wiped film evaporator runs. This manufacturing efficiency utilizes parallel processes at the same time to more rapidly product concentrated cannabis products. It is estimated that the parallel processing the THCA using a centrifuge and the HTE processing at the same time cuts product time in half, or stated differently increases production capacity by 2×, with a greater efficiency in terms of yield. More terpenes are preserved when separated and purged at lower temps such as the mechanical processing (centrifuge) enables. Mechanical processing at lower temperatures (below the decarboxylation temperature of THCA) also maintains the integrity of the THCA so that it can be most efficiently separated or extracted.
In one embodiment the step of re-capturing using butane is at room temperature and after saturation allows the butane to evaporate in a vented room as the evaporative process cools the mixture allowing the THCA to form crystals. This process can take less than 24 hours. The HTE byproduct yields 10%-90% THCA in the form of white crystals and requires a minimum of mechanical equipment, space and energy.
In various embodiments, these THCA crystals can then be fully decarboxylated into THC.
The THC is then oxidized by heating in a wiped film evaporator to achieve a purified and purple colored product. The HTE byproduct can also be further processed to extract terpenes that can be added back to the purified and purple colored product to add flavor and aroma.
In another embodiment, the cigarettes 26 are made primarily from marijuana flower having a detectable THC content. Preferably, the marijuana flower has at least a 10% THCA content on a weight to weight (w:w) basis. The combination of the marijuana flower and the coatings have a combined THC and THCA content of at least 40% in one embodiment of the invention and is readily identifiable by the reflective crystals at the open ends. More preferably, the standardized THCtotal is 20% of the cannabis flower product to enable users to enjoy smoking without excess bioactivity.
The cannabis cigarette 22 includes a foot 28 for holding the cigarette 22, which has very little, if any, cannabis material. It is simply a way of holding the cannabis cigarette 22 while using it. The cannabis cigarette 22 includes a paper 26 wrapped around ground cannabis flower. The cannabis cigarette 22 includes an open end 24 that has crystals that sparkle. The sparkles are shown as dark specs in this drawing, but the physical crystals are somewhat translucent, transparent and reflective to reflect light.
The cannabis material is preferably trimmed, dried and ground cannabis flower having at least 10% cannabinoid content. The cannabinoid content can be selected from the group consisting of tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabigerol, cannabinol, the acid forms thereof, and combinations thereof. Any of the at least one hundred known cannabinoids can be used in accord with the present invention.
In one embodiment of the invention, a first coating coats the cannabis flower with hardened THC. In a variation of this embodiment, a second coating of crystallized THCA, where the crystallized second coating reflects light through the open end 40. In this embodiment, the paper is also coated to reflect light using crystallized THCA. Accordingly the coating of the paper 34 cooperates with the coated cannabis flower to reflect light longitudinally and through the end 32.
Although open ends are shown on the various cigarettes, the open end can be closed by rolling the paper tightly into a point in the traditional way a hand rolled joint are rolled. In addition, although a foot of the cigarettes is shown, cigarettes without a foot can be fabricated to have two open ends to reflect light. Further both ends can be rolled tightly in the embodiments having transparent paper, or coated paper, so that the aesthetic effects of the crystals are not hidden or totally lost.
Further, it can be appreciated that the cannabis material, or herbage, need not be presented in the form of a cigarette, but can be packaged in any way desirable by the smoking customer. For example, the herbage (i.e. cannabis flower) presented in a jar can be extricated from the jar and re-packaged in a transparent plastic tube, baggie, or other container for sale to a customer. In such a case the herbage is still visible along with the reflective crystals.
It can also be appreciated that while coated herbage, or cannabis flower, is coated in accordance with the present invention, it is possible to simply mix ground herbage, or cannabis material, with crystalline THCA to make cigarettes.
This patent application describes the invention by way of example only, and the true scope of the invention is expressed in the appended claims.
This patent application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/893,712, filed 23 Aug. 2022, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This patent application relates in subject matter to commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/990,991, filed 21 Nov. 2022, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/960,682, filed 5 Oct. 2022, the disclosures of which are also incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17893712 | Aug 2022 | US |
| Child | 18105604 | US |
