There are three types of CBD: full spectrum, broad spectrum and isolate. They differ by what else from the hemp plant comes along with the cannabidiol. Full spectrum keeps everything, including a legal trace of THC. Broad spectrum keeps everything except the THC. Isolate is CBD and nothing else.<\/p>\n
Type is only half the question, though. The other half is form, meaning whether you take it as an oil, a capsule, a paste, a cream or a crystal. A full spectrum extract and a full spectrum capsule are the same type in different packaging. This guide covers both.<\/p>\n
When people talk about different types of CBD, they are talking about spectrum, which describes how much of the original plant survives extraction and refinement.<\/p>\n
Hemp contains far more than cannabidiol. It holds over a hundred other cannabinoids, including cannabichromene (CBC) and cannabinol (CBN), plus aromatic terpenes such as myrcene, limonene and pinene, and flavonoids. How a producer handles those extra compounds is what creates the three types.<\/p>\n
None of the three is universally better. They suit different people for different reasons. For a longer, side-by-side treatment of the three, see our detailed comparison of\u00a0full spectrum vs broad spectrum vs isolate<\/a>. The sections below are the short version.<\/p>\n Full spectrum CBD contains the full range of compounds extracted from the plant: terpenes, essential oils, flavonoids, plant waxes and other cannabinoids such as cannabinol, cannabichromene and cannabigerol. It also includes THC, at the trace level UK rules allow.<\/p>\n Full spectrum is the type most closely associated with the entourage effect, because it is the only one that keeps the plant’s chemistry intact. Endoca’s hemp extracts and pastes and most of its\u00a0CBD oils<\/a>\u00a0are full spectrum for that reason. The trade-off is taste: full spectrum has a strong, earthy, distinctly hemp flavour and smell, and it is the type most likely to put a new user off.<\/p>\n There is also a further split inside full spectrum that most brands skip. In the living plant, cannabinoids exist in acidic form as CBDA rather than CBD, and heat converts them through decarboxylation. Endoca’s RAW range is deliberately left unheated, so it retains CBDA alongside CBD. Heated products contain CBD only. Both are full spectrum. They simply hold different versions of the same cannabinoid.<\/p>\n Broad spectrum CBD contains a range of compounds and cannabinoids from the plant, including cannabichromene (CBC) and cannabinol (CBN), as well as terpenes such as myrcene, limonene and pinene. The defining characteristic is that it contains no THC. Some products retain trace amounts, but not in the way full spectrum does.<\/p>\n It is made by taking a full spectrum extract and removing the THC through additional refinement, usually chromatography, leaving everything else in place. The appeal is straightforward: you keep most of the plant’s supporting compounds without the THC. The trade-off is cost. The extra refinement step is not free, so broad spectrum often prices higher than full spectrum at the same CBD strength, and removing the THC removes one of the compounds the entourage effect hypothesis is built on.<\/p>\n CBD isolate is the pure form of cannabidiol, at over 99% purity. There is no THC and no other plant material, so no cannabinoids, terpenes or flavonoids. It also has no taste and no smell, which is exactly what makes it useful.<\/p>\n Isolate is usually sold as a fine white crystalline powder, which is why UK searchers often look for it as CBD crystals. Endoca’s\u00a099.9% CBD crystals<\/a>\u00a0are an example, and our\u00a0guide to CBD isolate<\/a>\u00a0covers how it is made and how to measure it.<\/p>\n People generally choose isolate if they want cannabidiol on its own, if they cannot tolerate the taste of hemp extract, or if they want to weigh an exact milligram amount with no other variables. It is also the base for most CBD skincare formulations. The trade-off is that there is no entourage effect, by definition. One study from 2015 reported that purified CBD produced a narrow, bell-shaped dose response in an animal model while a whole-plant extract enriched in CBD did not, which suggests the surrounding compounds change how a dose behaves. That research was preclinical, and it has not been replicated in people.<\/p>\nFull spectrum CBD<\/h3>\n
Broad spectrum CBD<\/h3>\n
CBD isolate<\/h3>\n
Full spectrum vs broad spectrum vs isolate<\/h2>\n