HIGH-TECH HEAT
Company treats bad batches of cannabis to save harvest
When a medical marijuana grower failed a test for harmful microbials, the only options they had were to create a distillate of the product, which drastically diminishes its value, or trash it entirely.
But a new company launched in Oklahoma hopes to save those cannabis harvests by exposing the flower to a radio frequency ( RF) treatment. Pure Buds USA introduced the process in Oklahoma, a process that's already widely used in the food manufacturing industry and in cannabis industries in other states.
“If you've ever eaten a Ritz cracker or Goldfish, it's gone through a radio frequency machine like ours,” said Greg
Huntsman with Pure Buds USA.
The machine creates an electromagnetic field around the cannabis, and reverses the polarity many times per second to create heat. Huntsman said the heat is precisely controlled to kill the microbial exoskeleton.
The treatment can reduce the presence of mold, yeast, pathogens, viruses and other biological contaminants.
“So basically it decontaminates and it's like boiling water,” he said.
After treatment, the cannabis is cooled, packaged, and sent back to the grower for additional testing. Heat isn't great for shelf-ready cannabis, so the process must be tightly controlled, Huntsman said. One downside is a hit to the product's moisture content.
Despite that, he said, the treatment can save a producer's harvest. Huntsman said one recent client would have been forced to sell it to a processor for $300 a pound, even though it cost $500 a pound to grow. After passing through the RF device, the marijuana was able to remain in its more valuable
leafy, green state for retail sales.
“It takes 20 pounds for one liter of distillate,” he said. “So they can't really pay you that much for your harvest because of the metrics involved. We're helping farmers protect the value of their hard work and their flower, and at the same time we are making sure Oklahoma consumers are getting safe cannabis for consumption.”
Huntsman and his business partner, Tim Pedigo,
spent about half a million dollars setting up the Oklahoma City- based facility, which includes a clean room.
Sales of medical marijuana have plateaued this summer after massive growth during spring and the first months of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the latest figures from the Oklahoma Tax Commission, Oklahomans spent an estimated $78.4 million in July compared to roughly $40 million a year ago.