Terpenes & Cannabis
I love terpenes; they are one of my favorite subjects to talk about. The terpenes found in Cannabis are especially fun to discuss. First, what are they? Terpenes are part of a plant and part of their own built in defense center. They are natural pesticides and miticides and act as a communication tool for plants. That is why feeding your soil and making sure that you provide all the proper nutrients is so important.
In nature, terpenoids serve a variety of purposes which includes defenses and signals as the key agents in the metabolic processes.
Terpenoids have been used for fragrances, cosmetics and medicine for thousands of years. They are still extracted from their natural sources today.
One of the best aspects of Cannabis is the scents and flavors associated with the various varieties of the plant. These compounds known as terpenes are produced by most plants as a defense mechanism to communicate chemically with other living things by what we now know as organic chemistry, because plants and animals produce such a diverse range of chemicals.
There are over 120 different types of terpenes that can be expressed by the Cannabis plant although some are only found in trace amounts.
Terpenes make up between 5 and 10 percent of the total oils that are produced in the trichrome glands. Although they are constantly being produced, they’re easily vaporized by heat and daylight throughout the day making the morning an ideal time to harvest.
When cannabis is grown in different soils or with different fertilizers, some strains can produce different variations because they are classified into primary and secondary metabolites. This is what adds the fragrances, physical effects and are also partially responsible for the different kinds of effects that are induced by different strains of cannabis.
KNOWLEDGE
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