As a fat water-soluble cannabis, THC is incompatible with water. It needs to pass through the digestive system before being absorbed into the body’s lipids and endocannabinoid systems. This means that it can take hours for a consumer to feel the effects of a regular cannabis edible or vape cartridge, even when consumed with food. With water soluble cannabis, on the other hand, the phytocannabinoids are immediately absorbed by the body in their soluble form. The onset time is much faster, and it is possible to accurately dose.

There are four main ways to create water soluble cannabis, all of which require a special manufacturing process called “emulsification”. The process of emulsification reduces a cannabinoid’s oils to tiny droplets. It also adds an emulsifier, a thickening agent, to keep the oil droplets dispersed evenly in the liquid.

A Quicker Quench: Unraveling the Benefits of Water-Soluble CBD

This makes it impossible for them to clump together and separate like oil and water. It also allows product developers to control how infused beverages and foods taste, how potent they are, and offers accurate dosing and consistency.

Using an emulsion to make phytocannabinoids water soluble also allows them to be more effectively measured in the human body with cutting edge lab testing equipment. To test a water soluble CBD product, cannabis testing labs like True Labs for Cannabis first extract the phytocannabinoids from the final formulation, and then use an LC/MS/MS machine to measure the amount of phytocannabinoids in the resulting sample.