Filtering out Chlorophyll?

rives · Aug 18, 2011

I make topical oil out of leaves, popcorn, etc. and have found it to be very helpful for inflammation, arthritis, spasms, etc. The problem that I am having is that since I went to LED's, the amount of chlorophyll has skyrocketed. I usually use an olive oil base, and the final product used to be an amber color, perhaps with a slight greenish tinge. The current runs have all been this deep, deep green that I sure as hell don't want to get on my clothes and gives my skin an interesting tint! Has anyone found an effective method to filter out some of this?

conehead · Aug 19, 2011

Hi ya rives, the only way I know to get rid of the chlorophyll is by flushing with water for the final few days of flower in your case even 1 week or more should reduce it considerably. :mopper:

DoobieDuck · Aug 19, 2011

Rives good topic, i'm interested in hearing more about this, anyone? Tagged DD

guest 77721 · Aug 19, 2011

I've been drying my leaves and curing them along with my bud. I'm planning on making a batch of topical oil from my last grow. The last batch was made from aged ground leaves that were pretty much faded to yellow. It didn't seem as green as other batches made with fresh leaves.

My method is a long soak in isopropyl alcohol, evaporate it off then mix with hemp seed oil.

m314 · Aug 19, 2011

You can remove the chlorophyll by water curing your leaves before making the oil. Soak the leaves in a jar of water overnight, then pour out the water the next day (being careful to catch any trichomes that might have washed off). Repeat daily until the runoff water is clear. I use this method before making green dragon these days. My old batches used to be a deep dark green, with a taste that's barely tolerable. Now when I water cure first, the green dragon turns out just a light shade of yellow / green with a much improved taste.

I haven't actually tried this, but it might be worth a shot. Take your green oil and cook it on low heat in a pot with an equal amount of water. Stir frequently, and then cool and separate the oil from the water. A separatory funnel would be best, but you could try to suck up the oil on top with a turkey baster. Or put the oil / water in a big ziplock bag, cut a hole in the corner, and drain out the water. You might want to try a small batch first to see if it works.

rives · Aug 19, 2011

Thanks for the input. Some interesting things to try, here. Red, you should see the isopropyl extract that I made with it - it looks like iridescent green ink!

guest 77721 · Aug 22, 2011

I bet it was pretty green. I made some budder once with green leaves and it was horrible.

I'm not too sure on the water cure. I did it once with fresh bud and although it does draw some stuff out of the plant material, it is very bright green. My thoughts are that the water draws out some plant sugars and some water soluable oils. The bud tasted like ass when smoked, not that I know what smoked ass tastes like.

When you cure the plant material, the water-oil bond is broken and the oils can be extracted better.

eloquentsoution · Sep 26, 2011

you can let the sun degradate the chlorophyll while dilute in solvent (10x). leave it set in the sun for eight hour, i was told. if using denatured it takes less time the iso or ethanol.

kmk420kali · Sep 26, 2011

eloquentsoution said:
you can let the sun degradate the chlorophyll while dilute in solvent (10x). leave it set in the sun for eight hour, i was told. if using denatured it takes less time the iso or ethanol.

This confuses me-- Chlorophyll is produced through Photosynthesis, so I'm not sure that the sun will degrade it-- That is the whole reason for drying your bud in the dark...photosynthesis can take place even in a harvested plant--
As for reducing chlorophyll...I would try drying and curing your leaf and popcorn the same way you do your bud...then try making it-- :tiphat:

moresntoil · Sep 26, 2011

Talk to GrayWolf in the hash forum, very smart guy with extracts oils ect. His post have taught me everything Ive ever wanted to know and more...
one idea i have is to extract with a solvent first, refine, then mix with your oil. i know many people hate the idea of using any solvents, but its all I can think of.

what properties in the plant matter are you looking to extract?
hexane will not remove any chlorophyll, my solvent of choice for hash oil

good luck bro.

Phaeton · Sep 26, 2011

I extract with hexane, I have used septane and octane, but they boil too high. Some winters I use butane, boils -10, best of all.

What all these have in common is they do not dissolve chlorophyll. From what I understand, any nonpolar solvent should leave the chloropyll behind. Most are toxic.
Hexane is available commercially, I have drums delivered for $1000. Smaller amounts are available from chemical supply houses. Boils at 170, good with my recovery system, and low enough not to kill THC.
I started growing to feed this machine.
:kitty:

Jalisco Kid · Sep 26, 2011

There is filter paper that pulls chlorophyll from the solvent. I do not know what it is called but we used it in my marine bio lab on seaweed. That was about 30 years ago. JK

eloquentsoution · Sep 26, 2011

chlorophyll is produced via photosynthesis. uv light will decompose the chlorophyll. i used denatured alcohol for the particular extraction, dipping a giant tea ball in the solvent then refreshing the tea ball until the solvent was saturated with cannabiniods. a four hour sun bath was used to decompose the chlorophyll. yes, some degradation of cannabinoids took place in that time, but on a relative basis, i think not much.

anyway, it made for a fine topical from sifted out sticks and leaf stems as well as sticks reduced in the hammer mill. i simply oil bathed the denatured alcohol out and added the appropriate ingredients to make topical holy anointing oil.

btb, i did this during our friday skunk pharm lab day with graywolf and joe.

gman42 · Apr 21, 2016

Hi all
You might want to try using alkalized water to remove the chlorophyll (lye)

Steal your kid brothers marbles

Mix your water in a bottle with lye (Gallo wine bottle works)
Mix your oil with some Hexane
Pour the hexane into the bottle of water
SHAKE WELL!!!!!!!! then allow to separate
Place your bottle into a collection container (cookie tray?)
Using a GLASS/METAL funnel (no plastic) pour more water into the bottle BELOW the surface of the water.
The hexane will flow out into the collection container
Stop when the hexane is nearly all out
Collect the hexane that has come out of the bottle
Now drop the marbles 1 at a time into the bottle, fairly precise way of getting all the hexane out.

Repeat as needed

Whats happing?..................
THC and CBD do not dissolve in water
Fats and chlorophyll do react with lye to produce soap which stays in the alkalized water

Bongstar420 · Apr 25, 2016

Just cut N off sooner. Also, try learning some chemistry. I can get amber extract off anything. #1 thing is don't use fan leaf.

Hexane barely pics up chlorophyl..if you do hexane, extract, redissolve extract in hexane, add salt water, shake, remove hexane, dry hexane to amber oil.

I wouldn't use hexane unless you like residual hydrocarbons since that stuff is nearly impossible to purge. Redissolve amber oil in isopropanol and redry two or three times to purge.

I prefer straight amber from isopropanol..not QWISO either (yields crap)

rives said:
I make topical oil out of leaves, popcorn, etc. and have found it to be very helpful for inflammation, arthritis, spasms, etc. The problem that I am having is that since I went to LED's, the amount of chlorophyll has skyrocketed. I usually use an olive oil base, and the final product used to be an amber color, perhaps with a slight greenish tinge. The current runs have all been this deep, deep green that I sure as hell don't want to get on my clothes and gives my skin an interesting tint! Has anyone found an effective method to filter out some of this?

corky1968 · Apr 25, 2016

All the info you need to clean your extracts is right here in this link:

Polishing extracts

https://skunkpharmresearch.com/getting-the-green-and-waxes-out-afterwards/

Enjoy

rives · Apr 25, 2016

Bongstar420 said:
Just cut N off sooner. Also, try learning some chemistry. I can get amber extract off anything. #1 thing is don't use fan leaf.

Looks like you missed out on what I'm doing, and why. I specifically use the fan leaves because they have a higher concentration of CBDs - I'm not trying to get high, I want relief from muscle spasms and inflammation via a topical application.

Shortly after this thread was created 5 years ago, I started using coconut oil rather than olive oil, and cooking the mixture of leaves, oil, and a couple of cups of water in a crock-pot. After cooking it for several hours, the mix is poured into a tapered bowl and refrigerated. After the coconut oil solidifies into a cake, it is simply popped out of the bowl and leaves the water-soluble byproducts behind.

wolfhoundaddy · May 3, 2016

This thread didn't get much responce.
I have been making a coco salve with stems. I save enough up and infuse the oil in a crock pot,filter, and done.it has been affective, but I am always looking for ways to improve.
If I add leaf it does get darker green and a bit 'too swampy'. Do you think the yellow leaves still have what we need still in them? I added a jar of small yellow leaf to the last batch. It darkened it a bit, but was still good to use.
I love this stuff. My brother has had two back surgeries,and hates using pain killer meds. He swears by this stuff. His surgeon wasn't impressed. But eventally said if it works for you,then good for you.
I am a 63 year old carpenter. It helps with the sore joint issues.

stoned-trout · May 3, 2016

I water cure everything..it gets out the green for sure.....yeehaw..usually atleast 3 water changes...

rives · May 4, 2016

wolfhoundaddy said:
This thread didn't get much responce.
I have been making a coco salve with stems. I save enough up and infuse the oil in a crock pot,filter, and done.it has been affective, but I am always looking for ways to improve.
If I add leaf it does get darker green and a bit 'too swampy'. Do you think the yellow leaves still have what we need still in them? I added a jar of small yellow leaf to the last batch. It darkened it a bit, but was still good to use.
I love this stuff. My brother has had two back surgeries,and hates using pain killer meds. He swears by this stuff. His surgeon wasn't impressed. But eventally said if it works for you,then good for you.
I am a 63 year old carpenter. It helps with the sore joint issues.

Add water to the crock pot like I mentioned up above.

The water soluble crap stays in the water and the coconut oil will wind up a very, very pale green even when using fan leaves. To get rid of any remaining scent, I add a couple of drops of essential oils to the mix when I'm jarring it up in 1oz jars. There are a number of essential oils that are also supposed to be beneficial for joint pain, inflammation, etc.

The stuff is magic. I've got a 90-year-old neighbor that uses it religiously.

Filtering out Chlorophyll?

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