By Max Sargent

For one reason or another, we may end up with too many edibles or concentrates to finish in one session, and wonder what to do with them. Short-term storage usually isn’t a problem, but if we want to keep cannabis products fresh and potent in the long term, then we need to know how to store them properly.

In this article, we look at the specifics of storing marijuana edibles and concentrates.

Atrophy: A Problem With Cannabis Edibles & Concentrates

Cannabis, in all its forms, will atrophy over time. This means that you will see a steady degradation in terms of aroma, flavor, potency, and overall quality. While true with any form of cannabis, it is particularly so when it comes to cannabis edibles and cannabis concentrates. This is why proper long-term storage is important.

Without due care, edibles will, at best, go stale and lose some potency; at worst, they'll rot, meaning they'll no longer be good to consume. Concentrates, on the other hand, will lose their texture and take a steep decline in terms of potency.

However, if you store your edibles and concentrates appropriately, then you can prolong their shelf lives—sometimes indefinitely—preserving their potency and quality.

Tipos de plantas de marihuana hermafroditas

Edibles vs Concentrates: Storage Considerations

Before we dive into the specifics of storing edibles and concentrates, let’s look at some basic facts that apply to both.

As with almost all perishable goods, the key is to store your cannabis products in a dry, dark, and cool place, in airtight containers. If you can do this, then you’ll find they last a decent amount of time, and degrade slowly. Though these are the fundamentals, there is more to proper storage than this (more on this shortly).

Concentrates are less perishable than edibles. As they don’t contain foodstuffs, they won’t be consumed by fungi or bacteria, and are inherently more stable than most foods. Conversely, edibles are, for the most part, perishable and will degrade very quickly in improper conditions. Some edibles can be stored out of the freezer for longer periods, while others must be frozen if they are to be kept for any meaningful period of time.

The exception to this are cannabis gummies. Thanks to their incredibly high sugar content, they are mostly preserved and will not degrade substantially, as long as they are kept in a cool, dark place.

How Does Proper Storage Affect the Potency of Cannabis Edibles & Concentrates?

If you only want to store your cannabis products in the short term, you can get away with putting them in a Tupperware in the cupboard. But for any longer period, you’ll need to store them correctly, depending on which cannabis product you're working with, to avoid degradation.

Storing Cannabis Products: What Causes Degradation?

When storing anything perishable, there are four main contenders against which you must battle. These are heat, light, air, and moisture. Without these, most things die, making such inhospitable environments perfect for storing goods you don’t want consumed by other living beings. What’s more, the above elements can also cause cannabinoids and other compounds to degrade, rendering them useless.

  • Heat: This is a serious killer when it comes to cannabinoids. Strong heat will cause compounds to decarboxylate and then degrade, meaning the molecules will change form. In the case of THC, it will turn into CBN, a compound with less potency and potentially more lethargic effects. In time, heat will render all cannabinoids and aromatic chemicals non-existent. Furthermore, higher temperatures create the perfect breeding ground for many bacteria and fungi—hence why we use fridges and freezers.
  • Light: Photons, along with heat, will accelerate the degradation of cannabinoids, rendering your edibles and concentrates less potent and flavourful. Light also degrades numerous other compounds, and can spoil foods, assist in the growth of bacteria and fungi, and ruin the quality and texture of concentrates.
  • Air: Ever noticed how a moist, delicious cookie or brownie goes rock hard and dry when left out in the open? This is because the moisture contained in them evaporates in the open air, making them go stale. This happens to both foods and concentrates, and results in vastly diminished quality, sometimes within quite a short period of time.
  • Moisture: Too much moisture is also not good for most perishable products. If they start off very dry (like biscuits), then excessive moisture in the air will enter them through osmosis, and they will become soft and unpleasant. Not only can moisture ruin the quality of very dry products, but a moist environment is ripe for colonisation by bacteria and fungi, and damp things will go off very quickly if stored improperly.
Tipos de plantas de marihuana hermafroditas

Storing Cannabis Edibles: Keeping Your Snacks Fresher for Longer

Now that you know your enemies, the following section will explain how to keep them at bay. You probably already know the basics, but there are a few factors that might be of interest to you, so keep reading, as cannabis products need to be treated a little differently than normal food products.

How Proper Storage Enhances Shelf Life

Storing edibles properly protects both the perishable ingredients (as with any food) and the cannabinoids and terpenes, helping to slow their degradation. So storing edibles isn’t just a matter of keeping the food from going off; you also have to protect the phytochemicals if you want to get high at a later date.

Airtight Containers

First off, an airtight container is a must. Be it plastic Tupperware, Pyrex glass, a mason jar, or something else—it must prevent air exchange. These containers help to retain the moisture of the product by blocking out fresh air, while also preventing excess moisture from getting in and ruining your edibles. Furthermore, it keeps creatures of all sizes, from microscopic bacteria and fungi to dogs and cats, from getting at your goods. Also, the lack of air exchange can help to suffocate any bacteria or fungi that may already be present on your edibles.

Fridge

You may already be aware that putting food in the fridge helps it stay viable longer. But if you didn’t, then fear not, Royal Queen Seeds is here to tell you to refrigerate your food!

It goes without saying: refrigerating food slows the growth of bacteria and fungi, and also keeps it fresher for a longer period. But with edibles, the cool temperatures also help to keep the cannabinoids and terpenes from breaking down, helping to retain the potency and flavour of your edibles.

Freezer

Depending on the edible and how long you want to store it for, you might be better off freezing it. While fridges slow the growth of life that would like to devour your edibles, freezers halt its development entirely, meaning you can store your edibles indefinitely. Official advice is to consume frozen food within six months, but nobody will stop you from keeping frozen goods for much longer than this.

When freezing edibles, you should still do so in an airtight container, as freezers have a high moisture content that can adversely affect the quality of foods stored in them. Note that plastic containers are more suitable for freezing, as glass can crack and break.

Cool and Dark Locations

Last but not least, cool and dark locations (like cool cupboards) will help to keep food items from going off quickly, and help to maintain phytochemical levels. But with most foods, if you want to store them in the long term, you should put them in a fridge or freezer.

Tipos de plantas de marihuana hermafroditas

How to Store Edible Gummies

The only instances where you don’t need to freeze or refrigerate edibles is if you make gummies or very dry biscuits, which can be stored in cupboards. Although they don’t need to be refrigerated or frozen, you must still store them in a cool environment (<21ºC) if you don’t want them to degrade, and they should also be protected from light, air, and moisture.

How to Correctly Store Cannabis Concentrates

Generally, concentrates are much more robust than edibles, and won’t rapidly go off if the conditions they are stored in are not ideal. Still, they will degrade over time, losing potency and flavour. And certain concentrates may also dry out and lose their quality and/or texture if left out in the open, making them difficult or unpleasant to use.

How to Store Dabs, Wax, RSO, and Distillate

The above concentrates can all be stored in the same way, as they all share similar properties. They should be kept in airtight, opaque containers in a cool, dark, dry place. If you can’t get hold of an airtight container, make sure the other variables are ideal.

To preserve the quality of your products, the ideal temperature range is between 15 and 21ºC. At these temperatures, you should find that the cannabinoids and terpenes remain very stable over time.

Silicone Jar

Many products that are sold to store concentrates are made from silicone. This material is inexpensive, practically unbreakable, and easy to clean, making it the perfect short-term storage solution for concentrates.

However, for longer-term storage, you should opt for a different material. The solvents in solvent-based concentrates can, over time, react with silicone, and you might open your container to discover that the concentrate and container have become one, rendering both quite useless!

Glass Jar

Glass is the perfect material for storing concentrates. While it is breakable (if you’re not careful), it doesn’t react with solvents and thus can store them indefinitely. What’s more, their airtight nature makes glass containers reliable over long periods, which is not necessarily true with silicone.

Parchment Paper

If you’re in a fix and need an immediate solution, then simply storing your concentrates in parchment paper will work for some time. This baking parchment won’t absorb moisture, and will offer your concentrates some protection. But obviously, it’s not airtight and therefore won’t offer full protection.

Still, if you need something for a week or so while you figure something else out (or use all of your concentrates), then it will work just fine. Just make sure to keep your concentrates in a cool, dry, and dark place.

Freezer

Although this is probably overkill in most scenarios, you can store concentrates in the freezer too. While it will maintain their quality indefinitely, it’s probably unnecessary unless you don’t see yourself using your concentrates for a very long time.

If you do store them in a freezer, make sure your concentrates are in a truly airtight container, otherwise the moisture in the freezer might seep into your concentrates and spoil them. Also, once you are ready to use your concentrates, you'll need to let them thaw out completely first.

Keeping Cannabis Edibles & Concentrates Potent, Fresh, and Flavourful

Cool, dark, dry, and airtight. Those four words are key when it comes to storing concentrates and edibles. Each product may have its own specific storage needs—and “cool” can range from around 21ºC to -5ºC, depending on what you’re storing—but the fundamentals remain the same.

As a general rule, edibles are more perishable than concentrates and need more attention. But stored correctly, you can extend the lifespan of most cannabis products considerably!

DisclaimerExtracts, concentrates, and oils used for dabbing are among the strongest cannabis products available. Proceed with caution when using substances high in THC. Start with low doses and slowly increase over time to build up a tolerance to the compound.

Remember: Set and Setting will help you deal with various situations.

Stay Cultivated.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: