Glossary
Crude oil (crude extract)
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Crude oil is the first-pass hemp extract that comes off an ethanol, CO2 or hydrocarbon extraction before any refinement. It contains cannabinoids along with fats, waxes, chlorophyll and terpenes, and it is the least concentrated of the 3 common extract grades. Winterization and distillation refine it further.
Crude is what a hemp extractor gets when it runs biomass through solvent and evaporates the solvent off. Ethanol, supercritical carbon dioxide and light hydrocarbons such as butane are the main choices, and each pulls a somewhat different mix of compounds from the plant (Molecules 2022). Ethanol takes chlorophyll and waxes along with cannabinoids; CO2 extracts need winterization to remove fats and waxes.
The result is a dark, thick oil. It holds the plant's full cannabinoid and terpene profile plus lipids, pigments and sugars that have no use in a finished product. Crude is rarely sold to consumers. It is either formulated directly into low-cost full-spectrum products or sent on for winterization, decarboxylation and distillation.
Residual solvent is the main quality concern at this stage. State cannabis rules set limits for ethanol, butane and other solvents, and those limits vary widely by state (Jameson 2022). A certificate of analysis for crude should show the solvent panel, not just potency.
Crude from hemp still carries the plant's THC, so its total THC concentration decides whether the batch stays inside the hemp definition.
Sources
- A Comprehensive Review on the Techniques for Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Cannabis (Molecules, 2022) PubMed (accessed 2026-10-13)
- Comparison of State-Level Regulations for Cannabis Contaminants and Implications for Public Health (Environ Health Perspect, 2022) PubMed (accessed 2026-10-13)