Marijuana Business Magazine April 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | April 2020 98 BestPracticesInExtraction | Bart Schaneman “We will always tour the garden first,” said Murphy Murri, director of research and development for Sano Gardens, an extraction company based in Commerce City, Colorado. She’ll drive four or five hours— to the other side of the state, if necessary—when she’s interested in working with a new grower. “We have to go in there and see what’s going on,” Murri said. During the site visit, Murri is look- ing for any indications there might be contaminants such as mycotoxins, mold or yeast, which can be deter- mined by evaluating the cleanliness of the facility. “Just because the flower they sell us passes testing doesn’t mean there aren’t risks inside their facility,” Murri said. The visit also gives her insights into what lights and fertilizers the growers are using. She’s also evaluating the morale of the company’s staff and if there’s a high turnover rate, which can be “problematic.” “If they’re constantly changing their gardener, we’re left with these huge variations in our output,” said Murri, whose company creates live resin and vape cartridges. “We want consistency.” Matthew Anderson, CEO of Vanguard Scientific, an Aurora, Oregon-based company that services the marijuana and hemp extraction industry, also encourages site visits. “Meeting the grower at the farm and on site takes away a lot of mystery around the conversation,” he said. “Any grower can produce one premium cola or one nice, premium batch.” But he’s also looking for consistency. Anderson has a checklist that he runs down when he tours a grow site. He wants to know: • Does the grower have adequate sunlight? • How will the crop be planted? • What does the harvest schedule look like? • What genetics are being used? • What’s the expected yield? • How many plants are grown at once? Anderson also recommends asking for a sample of the product. He’ll then ask the grower to take a tour of the extraction site so everyone is on the same page. Harvest Evaluation Bilton coaches his growers that if the flower is intended to be sent for extraction, it’s better to grow the more commercial strains that lend themselves to higher potency and higher yield, such as Silver Haze, Northern Lights and Chemdawg. He’s also coaching the cultivators to provide strains with certain terpene profiles and minor cannabinoids such as THC-V and CBG. Murri said too many cannabis prod- ucts contain the terpene myrcene, for example, and she likes to work with cultivars that express other flavors to add variety to her products. For Murri, her company’s focus is on live resin, which requires fresh frozen material, so the harvest is crucial. “I want it as fresh as I can get it,” she said. Murri said she focuses on terpene content, and—unlike cannabinoids, that accumulate in the plant over time—terpene levels can change every day. “That means whatever’s happening with that plant right before it’s harvested, that’s the content we’re going to get,” Murri said. She’s interested in plant health and how the cultivator cuts down the plant. The longer the plant is out in the open before it’s frozen, the more terpene content can be lost, she said. “If you have a stressed-out or struggling plant, and you harvest right away rather than giving it time to recover, it’s going to smell way less appealing,” Murri said. Packaging Feedback Aside from harvesting and strain- selection feedback, Bilton coaches growers about optimal methods for storing cannabis. He recommends they avoid using plastic packaging such as turkey bags, because light breaks down the plant material. Such packaging also traps moisture and air, which will oxidize and ferment the flower and doesn’t lend itself well to extraction. Instead, Bilton suggests cultivators store flower in mylar bags—similar to those used for potato chips—to keep light and oxygen out. Murri posits that growers should shuck buds into frozen bags right away. And don’t pack those bags so full so that the flower can’t move around. If raw product is stuck together, it will develop flat spaces, and compacted plant material can cause difficulties during the extraction process. Next, get everything immediately into the freezer. “The sooner you can get it taken care of and frozen, the better,” Murri said. Murphy Murri, director of research and development for Sano Gardens, gives a demonstration during a recent extraction class. Courtesy Photo