Method for preparation of pharmacologically-relevant compounds from botanical sources

{
  "publication_number": "US2018296616A1",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "A1",
  "title": "Method for preparation of pharmacologically-relevant compounds from botanical sources",
  "abstract": "In a multi-step process for selectively purifying various pharmacologically-relevant components of a source plant such as cannabis, an initial step of the process provides a low-temperature, robust essential oil/terpene capture that also dehydrates and decarboxylates the starting product - fresh raw cannabis - by means of a vacuum-assisted microwave distillation process. By doing the terpene capture under vacuum distillation temperature may be kept low. The low distillation temperature maximizes yields of thermally-sensitive components such as terpenes and cannabinoids. The process includes additional steps of: extract cannabinoids from the dehydrated cannabis to produce a crude extract via a supercritical CO2 extraction process; purify crude extract of fats, lipids, plant material; and distill relevant cannabinoids from the purified crude extract via a wiped-film process. Selected terpenes and cannabinoids are then recombined in predetermined proportions to achieve extracts of unusual purity and zo having targeted therapeutic profiles.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A method for preparing purified extracts from raw cannabis comprising: A. distilling a terpene-rich essential oil from a water/raw cannabis mixture prepared by heating the raw cannabis/water mixture under gravity-assisted, vacuum conditions in a microwave oven at a predetermined power level for a predetermined period of time; B. followed by preparing a cannabinoid-rich crude extract from dried, decarboxylated cannabis resulting from A by exposing the dried, decarboxylated cannabis to a solvent and allowing a resulting extract to accumulate in a collection vessel as the solvent is purged; C. followed by refining the crude extract to remove impurities; and D. followed by preparing a purified extract from the refined extract by distilling the refined extract in a wiped-film evaporator under vacuum conditions. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein raw cannabis comprises fresh plant material that has not had an opportunity to dry. 3. The method of claim, wherein A further comprises at least one of: shredding and/or chopping the raw cannabis; soaking the raw cannabis in water; freezing the raw cannabis; packing the raw cannabis into a distillation vessel. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein A further comprises: heating a distillation vessel containing raw cannabis in a microwave oven under vacuum conditions; inverting the distillation vessel as the cannabis is being heated; heating the cannabis in the microwave oven for a period of 60 minutes; heating the cannabis in a 1000-watt microwave oven at ‘high’ power. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein A further comprises: condensing vapor produced by heating the cannabis into a mixture of terpene-rich cannabis essential oil and water separating the terpene-rich essential oil from the heated raw cannabis/water mixture; wherein heating in the microwave dries and decarboxylates the cannabis. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the solvent comprises one of: methanol; ethanol; isopropanol; hexane; pentane; butane; propane; naphtha; and chloroform. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein C further comprises: filtering the crude extract through activated carbon to remove undesirable components. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the solvent comprises at least one of: super-critical CO2. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein B further comprises: placing an amount of dried cannabis in an extraction chamber; introducing an amount of solvent to the extraction chamber; allowing the solvent to remain in contact with the dried cannabis for a predetermined period of time; allowing the solvent to evaporate after the predetermined period of time has elapsed; and retrieving accumulated extract from the collection vessel. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the predetermined period of time is approximately one hour. 11. The method of claim 8, wherein B further comprises: varying temperature and/or pressure of the solvent to target an identified cannabinoid fraction for extraction. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein C further comprises: preparing a refined extract from the crude extract by dissolving the crude extract in a solvent and iteratively: chilling a resulting solution to a temperature of approximately −20° C. for a period of at least 24 hours; and filtering out solid elements formed in the chilled solution; 13. The method of claim 1, wherein C further comprises: dissolving the crude extract in ethanol; alternately chilling the extract/ethanol solution to an approximate temperature of −20° C. for a period of approximately 24 hours and filtering the extract to remove precipitated solids; wherein each said filtering is through a filter having a smaller pore size than a preceding filter. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the frozen solids comprise undesirable compounds including lipids, waxes, pigments, and plant matter. 15. The method of claim 13, wherein C further comprises: purging ethanol from the extract/ethanol solution. 16. The method of claim 13, wherein C further comprises: treating the chilled, filtered extract/ethanol solution to remove pigments. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein treating the chilled, filtered extract/ethanol solution to remove pigments comprises one of: filtering through activated charcoal; and treating with UV light and/or sunlight. 18. The method of claim 1, wherein D further comprises: introducing the refined extract into a wiped-film evaporator (WFE) under vacuum conditions; dispersing the refined extract on the heated interior surface of the WFE by means of a wiper system; separating the refined extract evaporated by a combination of vacuum conditions and heat transfer from liquid extract; condensing evaporated extract; and collecting condensed distillate. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein condensing is performed by one of: an enclosed condenser; and a condenser located outside of the WFE. 20. The method of claim 1, further comprising: recombining the terpene-rich essential oil and the purified extract in predetermined portions to create products having targeted medicinal effects."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present disclosure relates to methods for preparing extracts of botanical products. More particularly the present disclosure relates to methods for preparing a purified extract from fresh cannabis.\n\nA plant medicine's therapeutic activity is attributed to the active constituents it contains. Although there are examples that show the activity of C. Sativa has been linked to specific chemical species, it is also true that the plant's medicinal affect is due to one or more combinations of constituents acting in concert.\n\nCannabis contains approximately 500 natural compounds. The two classes of compounds of greatest medicinal value are terpenes and cannabinoids. While cannabis may contain literally hundreds of terpenes, only a few have caught the interest of researchers and practitioners, among them: myrcene, linalool, limonene, humulene, pinene and caryophyllene. Until recently, it was thought that terpenes functioned mostly to give cannabis strains their characteristic flavors and aromas. Because of this, it was thought that, in preparing extracts, it wasn't necessary to be concerned about terpene content in a final product because the terpenes didn't appear to be important to the medicinal effect of the product.\n\nRecent research has revealed that terpenes play a much greater role in the effect of a particular cannabis strain than originally thought. It has been found, for example, that in many situations, the interaction between a terpene molecule and a cannabinoid molecule is determinative of the final effect of the relevant strain, with the terpene, in effect, regulating the medicinal action of the cannabinoid.",
  "cpc": [
    "A61K 36/3482",
    "A23L 33/105",
    "A61K 2236/13",
    "A61K 2236/15",
    "A61K 2236/31",
    "A61K 2236/37",
    "A61K 2236/39",
    "A61K 36/185"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "A61K 36/185"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Jose Rivas"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2017-04-18",
  "publication_date": "2018-10-18",
  "priority_date": "2017-04-18",
  "application_number": "US-201715490806-A",
  "family_id": "63791830",
  "cited_by_count": 37
}