Decarboxylation is a method of preparing cannabis and hemp products to improve user experience. If you’ve never tried it before, you probably have no idea of what it is or how it works. You’ll learn all about decarboxylation on this page.
Here we have explained what decarboxylation is, the process of how it works, and why it is so important. If you want to learn more, you can find a lot about decarbing your flower before cooking online.
What Is Decarboxylation?
Let’s start with an explanation of what decarboxylation is and what it does to cannabis/hemp. Decarbing, as it’s often called, heats substances with cannabinoids with them, primarily the buds, leaves, trim, and kief. By heating them, the cannabinoids are activated and so their intoxicating effects become stronger and more enjoyable.
In cannabis flowers (and the rest of the plant, to a smaller extent) are trichomes that contain inactive cannabinoids. When heated, the acids change on a molecular level. For those interested, they lose one carboxyl group, which consists of a carbon molecule, two oxygen molecules, and a hydrogen molecule. They look like this: (-COOH).
When heated, the carbon and oxygen disperse as carbon dioxide (CO2) while keeping the hydrogen atom. In cannabinoids, there are 30 hydrogen atoms, 22 carbon atoms, and just 4 oxygen atoms. As carbon and oxygen are burned away, THCA converts to THC at a higher rate. As you no doubt know, THC is what gives cannabis products their high.
Why Is It Important?
When processing cannabinoids into edibles and other ways of consuming them, decarbing is best to increase THC. Think about it – you burn cannabis to smoke it, but you can’t do that for cannabis that you eat, like cannabutter. So, through decarboxylation, we can make those products stronger before they ever hit shelves, otherwise, they wouldn’t be as powerful or enjoyable.
By activating the primary ingredients in cannabinoids – those being THC and CBD – they become stronger. Freshly harvested cannabinoids often have a lot of cannabinoid acids that have no benefit when consumed, so decarbing makes the plant more usable.
Without the decarbing process, the THCA and CBDA compounds can’t access the CB1 receptor in your nervous system. THC and CBD, however, can pass the blood-brain barrier and create a psychoactive experience. This is the basic reaction that every cannabis user is familiar with.
As for why that reaction is important – it doesn’t just feel good. Sure, cannabis is widely known for its recreational applications, but it’s also a good regulator for sleep, inflammation, and chronic pains. It can also improve mood in the long term if used responsibly and not depended upon too much. To explore more about the benefits of cannabis strains and The Purple Haze THCa process, check out our resources.
Edible and topical forms of cannabis all rely on decarboxylation to have as much of a psychoactive effect on users as smoking.
The Decarboxylation Process
Decarboxylation is a process, so it happens over a period of time. How long it takes differs, depending on the cannabinoid product being treated and the temperatures that it’s set at. The temperature can’t be too much or the cannabinoid content degrades or even burns entirely.
For THCA to become THC, it requires approximately 220 degrees Fahrenheit (104 degrees Celsius) for 40 minutes to become THC. Ideally, decarbing should use as little heat as possible. Too much heat can evaporate terpenes and reduce some of the therapeutic qualities that cannabis can have.
Even after decarboxylation, there will still be cannabinoid acids leftover that hasn't converted to THC or CBD. There’s no use in trying to get it all out, you’ll just destroy the good stuff instead, so it’s better to leave it in there and enjoy the higher THC content.
Is Decarboxylation Necessary?
Decarboxylation is necessary when you smoke cannabis, as we have discussed, but not all products are decarbed. As you’d no doubt noticed, THCA and CBDA have become popular as supplements that bestow therapeutic effects without the high. So, products that aren’t psychoactive don’t require decarboxylation to be viable.
That said, decarboxylation is necessary if you want to experience a high from the cannabis that you’re consuming. Otherwise, edible cannabis products like brownies or cannabutter wouldn’t produce an effective high like smoked cannabis.
Conclusion
That’s how decarboxylation works, by converting the inactive ingredients in cannabinoids into the active ones. From those activated ingredients, we experience the pleasant psychoactive reactions that cannabis has become world-famous for.
While those previously inactive ingredients are being researched and may have some positive effects, everybody enjoys cannabis more when it’s full of THC and CBD, not THCA and CBDA.
