These days, we squeeze every different extract we can out of a cannabis plant, in all different ways. Some use solvents to create butane hash oil, shatter, or resin. Some like rosin, are extracted via cold and compression. And some are left in a liquid like alcohol or oil until the components inside leach out. But there’s one more extract of the cannabis plant that doesn’t have to be extracted. Much like many other plants, cannabis produces and exerts, xylem sap, a sweet sticky treat that might well signal a whole new cannabis product category.
There are so many ways to enjoy cannabis, whether its dabbing cannabis shatter, drinking an infused soda, or eating cannabis xylem sap, (although this last one still has to catch on). One of the best ways to enjoy it? With delta-8 THC, the THC with less psychoactive effect, less anxiety produced, and an energetic, clear-headed high.If you didn’t know an alternate form of THC existed, this is the perfect time to check out our great Delta-8 THCdeals, to experience it for yourself.
Sap is fluid found in plants that resides in plant vacuoles, or small cavities that are within living cells. It contains both food and waste products, like inorganic salts and nitrogenous compounds, as its main job is to carry nutrients from the soil, through the root system, and up to the leaves. Some of the water in it is lost through the process of transpiration where the water moves throughout the plant, evaporating out through the leaves and stems as it goes. This generally takes place during the day only. There are different kinds of sap. Xylem sap carries nutrients from the soil to the leaves, and phloem sap (sieve-tube), carries nutrients from the leaves to the other parts of the plant.
Sap is something we’re all aware of, as it comes out of most trees. Think about maple syrup, which is an example of xylem sap, and one of the more famous kinds of sap out there. It’s sweet and delicious, and we spread it all over pancakes and waffles. That sap is collected from maple trees (Sugar maple, Red maple, Silver maple or Black maple) . In colder climates, these trees store starch in both the roots and trunks to prepare for winter, which is why a product like maple syrup is made in colder climates like Canada or Vermont.
The starch eventually converts into sugar, and by late winter – early spring, the sap is very high in sugar. The collection process involves drilling holes into the trunks of trees, and inserting a small, spout-like piece that diverts the sap from the tree, into a bucket. The sap is then filtered to remove debris, and boiled to kill bacteria. During the boiling process, water is evaporated out, leaving behind a much more dense, sugary concentration. It’s then put on a stove to get the last water out, leaving it at a consistency of approximately 33% water, and 67% sugar.
It goes through one more filtering process at this point, before being bottled hot. It takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. Maple syrup is especially sweet and tasty, which is why it’s such a well-known product the world over. And though not every tree can be used for sap consumption, there are still quite a few others that can, like other kinds of maple, including Bigleaf maple and Canyon maple, as well as walnut trees like Black walnut or English walnut, and birch trees like River birch and Yellow birch.