Whole‑Plant Extraction — My Story, Peter Vermeul

Reposted from the Swiss Institute for Medical Cannabis Research post, November 3, 2025

Foreword

I’m writing this document from my own experience as grower, breeder, and extractor. I’ll share what I’ve learned about Cannabis extraction, the problems I solved, and why Full plant extracts are the future.

I’m not giving medical advice, and I’m not disclosing trade secrets or specific process parameters, my method is currently under review at the patent office.

What follows is my vision, my design philosophy, and concrete evidence that it is possible to preserve the living power of the plant in an extract, without breaking it apart along the way.

The Core: the Living Plant Within One Hour

Anyone who’s done it knows: fresh cannabis, flowers and leaves, grown outdoors and consumed within one hour of harvest has an unmatched medicinal effect.

That is the reference point. That’s the standard to measure any extract against.

Why is that? Because the plant is still complete at that moment,

Cannabinoid acids (CBDa, CBGa, THCa, CBCa, …) are still intact.
Terpenes (monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes) have not evaporated.
Flavonoids (including cannflavins A, B, and C) are present in relevant ratios. Note, leaves are crucial here.
Sterols, stilbene, phenolics, wax fractions, and micro‑components all contribute to the synergy.

The problem, once you harvest, the clock starts ticking. Heat, oxygen, light, and the wrong solvent choice change the profile within minutes to hours. For years there was no method that could get this full complexity intact into a bottle.

It became my ultimate goal to make that possible. In 2016 I succeeded. And today I can substantiate it with stability data that are exceptional for this field.

Proof of Preservation: Stability Over 8 Years

A concrete example. A CBDa‑dominant extract from 2017 contained about 42% CBDa and 1.4% THCaat the time.

In 2025, eight years later, the same lot still measures 39.4% CBDa and 1.32% THCa, with well over 26 terpenesdemonstrably present in the extract.

That’s not an accident. That’s system design: starting material → process → packaging → storage, all tuned for preservation rather than “reworking.”

Conclusion, with the right design choices, you can preserve the plant’s natural composition for years.

Why Most Conventional Methods Fail

Five variables decide whether you get a Full plant extract or merely a “clean” but stripped fraction.

Polarity. Solvent choice and its interaction with the matrix determine what you co‑extract and what you lose. Too polar? You pull chlorophyll, sugars, and unwanted polar contaminants and you lose volatile terpenes and fragile acids. Too apolar without control? You miss phenolic fractions and flavonoids.
Temperature. Everything depends on operating at the right temperature, not too high, not too low, for every process step. Too warm and you decarboxylate, oxidize, and lose terpenes. Too cold and you disrupt solubility/selectivity or force harsh mechanics that damage components.
Chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is essential in the plant, but unwanted in the final product. Removing it the wrong way (too hot, too aggressive, too polar) causes loss of acids and terpenes. Selective removal without collateral damage is the art.
Waxes / wax fractions. Waxes and lipids give structure to the resin. Crude dewaxing/winterization not only removes wax, but also aroma, acids, and cofactors. You need targeted dewaxing, remove what interferes, preserve what works.
Time. Residence time in each step is decisive. Too long, degradation and isomerization. Too short, incomplete extraction and skewed ratios. Time isn’t a stopwatch, time is a design variable.

On top of that, oxygen, light, mechanical shear, pH environments, and metals (catalysis) accelerate breakdown if you don’t control them.

The reality of common extractions (and their limits)

The table below isn’t an attack, it’s a sober evaluation against my objective, the living plant in a bottle.

Bottom line, these techniques can yield neat products, but not the goal I pursue: the complete, living synergy profile, acids, terpenes, flavonoids, sterols, and more, in one integral extract without rebuilding it with “added‑back” aromas.

My design philosophy (without IP details)

In 2016, I designed a system that doesn’t start with hardware, but with system chemistry and preservation. A few core principles, without specific parameters:

Selective solubility: operate in a non‑reactive extraction environment with tuned (non‑)polarity so that the right families come out together, in natural proportion.
At the right temperature: each process step is tuned to preserve acids and monoterpenes. Not “low temperature” as a slogan, but the right temperature for that specific step.
Oxygen & light management: minimize oxidative routes by controlled atmosphere, minimal headspace, and protected flow.
Time as a precision variable: short where it must be, long enough where it may be; never generic, always purposeful.
Targeted dewaxing: gentle and selective, removing obstructive wax while preserving cofactors you can’t add back later.
Chlorophyll without collateral damage: remove color/grass without “knocking out” acids, terpenes, and flavonoids.
Shear reduction: keep mechanical stress low, you want extraction, not destruction.
Clean solvent & gas control: solvent quality, degassing, and material compatibility are not optional, they are prerequisites.
Integrated packaging: the process isn’t finished until it’s in the right package. Headspace, migration, light, cap, every detail matters.

Result: a Full plant extract that preserves the plant composition. Not a “nice fraction,” but a living composition that, years later, is still recognizable by its acids, terpenes, and flavonoids.

Validation and quality control

How do I verify success:

Chemical profile: high percentages of CBDa/CBGa/THCa remain intact, 26+ terpenes demonstrable, cannflavins A/B/C measurable, sterols and other minor components present.
Stability: re‑testing after months/years shows minimal drift (see 2017→2025 example).
Storage robustness: profile stays within specs under normal storage, accelerated stress tests show predictable patterns.
Purity: residual solvents below strict limits, metals, mycotoxins, and pesticides within norms, microbiology under control.
Traceability: Strain‑bound batches, leaves explicitly in scope (flavonoids), GACP cultivation and consistent post‑harvest.

Why Full Plant Extracts Are Superior to Distillates and Isolates

Isolates and distillates have their place, but they miss the plant’s entourage effect. Clinically, I see, and many researchers confirm that,

Acid forms (CBDa, CBGa, THCa) act differently and often more powerfully than their neutral counterparts, with better uptake and their own pharmacology.
Flavonoids (cannflavins) and terpenes modulate efficacy, tolerability, and therapeutic breadth.
The Bell‑curve effect, the problem of isolated molecules, is overcome with full plant extracts that maintain a linear increase in medicinal effect.

A full plant extract respects that synergy. It doesn’t rebuild, it preserves.

Leaves are not waste—they’re a treasure

Focusing only on top flowers misses half the story. Leaves are a source of cannflavins and other polyphenols. My batches are deliberately leaf‑inclusive balanced so the profile stays rich and complete without creating flavor or color issues in the final product.

Safety, regulation, and ethics

Safety first: material choice, explosion safety, solvent quality, and residual‑solvent limits are non‑negotiable.
Regulation differs by country. I operate within the applicable frameworks and steer toward GACP (cultivation) and GMP‑logic (consistency, documentation) where appropriate.
Transparency: certificates of analysis (CoAs) show acids, terpenes, and flavonoids, I refuse “greenwashing” with added‑back terpenes or misleading “Full‑spectrum” claims.

What I deliberately do not share (IP protection)

I do not share,

specific solvent names or blend ratios,
exact temperatures, pressures, times, or sequences,
schematics, layouts, or unique components,
software/control parameters and thresholds.

What I do share is the mindset that leads to preservation. The method is more than a recipe, it’s a system.

Application and Outlook

From human to veterinary use, I see full plant extracts providing a stable, reproducible foundation.

Clinical and preclinical collaboration: I work with teams researching acid forms, flavonoids, and sterols.
New sources & botanicals: for example, leaf‑only extracts from other plants (e.g., Trema micranthum) are yielding promising profiles with cannflavins and other cofactors.
Medical traditions: integrating Ayurvedic and phytotherapeutic insights offers opportunities for personalized trajectories, evidence‑informed and patient‑centric.

Checklist: Is This Truly a “Full plant extract”

If the answer isn’t a convincing “yes” to (almost) all of these, the product is likely not a true Full plant extract.

The Plant As My Compass

My compass is the fresh plant within one hour. That’s the highest level of medicinal potential. Everything I’ve built, since 2016, is designed to preserve that order, in the lab, in the bottle, and still visible in the data eight years later.

Not through a trick, but through respect for chemistry, time, and nature.

Full plant extracts aren’t nostalgia, they are the logical next step for anyone who wants to preserverather than imitate the plant’s healing power.

That’s my work. That’s my story.

Peter Vermeul