Method for preparation of pharmacologically-relevant compounds from botanical sources

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, continuing 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 remaining after distillation 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 1 , 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 a ‘high’ power setting.

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.