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The Terpenes of Cannabis Their Aromas and Effects

Seaf0ur

Pagan Extremist
Veteran
demotivational-posters-insufficient-content.jpg
 

Guy Brush

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
All of your buds contain no caryophyllene. I have read that this is the component they train the dogs for.
 
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Thule

Dr. Narrowleaf
Veteran
β-Myrcene has an odor that is variously described as an aroma of hops, clove like, earthy, green-vegatative, citrus, fruity with tropical, mango and minty nuances. The various odors are the result of slight differences in the overall makeup. All of these flavors and odors are commonly used to describe Cannabis.
β-Myrcene is the most prevalent terpene found in most varieties of marijuana but it is not found in hemp.

This appears to be incorrect.

"The essential oil and the solvent extract of two populations of Cannabis sativa L. ssp. spontanea growing wild in Austria were analyzed comparatively. In the essential oil, myrcene (31% and 27%, respectively) were found."

Does anyone have any charts on myrcene levels in tropical sativas? If myrcene gives the couchlock effect there should be less of it in ganja plants than hash plants. Tropical Thais like Mango Thai could be a different story though.
 

Only Ornamental

Spiritually inspired agnostic mad scientist
Veteran
This appears to be incorrect.

"The essential oil and the solvent extract of two populations of Cannabis sativa L. ssp. spontanea growing wild in Austria were analyzed comparatively. In the essential oil, myrcene (31% and 27%, respectively) were found."

Does anyone have any charts on myrcene levels in tropical sativas? If myrcene gives the couchlock effect there should be less of it in ganja plants than hash plants. Tropical Thais like Mango Thai could be a different story though.
Found one about a Hawaiian variety ;) and two other publications:
- MIRIAM ROTHSCHILD, GUNNAR BERGSTRÖM and STEN-ÅKE WÄNGBERG, Cannabis sativa: volatile compounds from pollen and
entire male and female plants of two variants, Northern Lights and Hawaian Indica, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 147, 387–397
- Alessandra Bertoli, Sabrina Tozzib, Luisa Pistelli, Luciana G. Angelini, Fibre hemp inflorescences: From crop-residues to essential oil production, Industrial Crops and Products 32 (2010) 329–337
- Justin Thomas Fischedick, Arno Hazekamp, Tjalling Erkelens, Young Hae Choi, Rob Verpoorte, Metabolic fingerprinting of Cannabis sativa L., cannabinoids and terpenoids for chemotaxonomic and drug standardization purposes, Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 2058–2073

Myrcene seems to be one of the major monoterpenes in essential oil from hemp and drug type cannabis but it's also one of the most unstable constituents degrading/polymerising quite fast upon exposure to oxygen, heat, or light.
 

Betterhaff

Active member
Veteran
Do you have to specifiably ask for that 35 test.. I was just browsing there site they say they test for 10..
Here is a list of terpenes The Werc Shop can test for, I may have missed some and/or they may have added more but this is from a report for a Mango Haze Shanti had tested in April of 14. Not sure of the cost.

α-Bisabolol
Borneol
Camphene
Δ 3-Carene
β-Caryophyllene
Caryophyllene oxide
α-Cedrene
β-Eudesmal
(+) Fenchol
Geraniol
Guaiol
α-Humulene
Isoborneol
Limonene
Linalool
Menthol
Myrcene
Nerol
cis-Ociene
trans-Ocimine
α-Phellanderene
α-Pinene
β-Pinene
Sabinene Hydrate
α-Terpinene
α-terpineol
Terpinolene
α-Guaiene
Elemene
Farnesene
Germacrene B
Guaia-1(10), 11-diene
t-2-Pinanl
Selina-3,7(11)-diene
Eudesm-7(11)-en-4-ol
Valencene
 
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Dkgrower

Active member
Veteran
Thanks SeafOur, well written and full of usefull information.

Thanks all for contributing and making me smarter

Merry Ganjamas to you all
 

Only Ornamental

Spiritually inspired agnostic mad scientist
Veteran
...
Menthol
...
I wonder why they don't test for menthone instead as this is far more important in cannabis and in most cases I know of responsible for the minty aroma. On the other hand, they test for quite some compounds only found in traces... What's the use for those other than 'being cool'?
 

Betterhaff

Active member
Veteran
That report was in an article Shanti wrote, I’m not sure if he was actually the one who had it tested. The only format I could find was a pdf of the complete article but I extracted the report below. Quite a few of the terpenes are showing miniscule amounts. I’m no expert so I don’t know to what affect these small amounts may contribute in the overall scheme of things. Some terpenes are pretty potent.
 

Attachments

  • MH Terps Report.pdf
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rasputin

The Mad Monk
Veteran
Maybe I'm old school but would it hurt to properly attribute the first post to its original author, Martin A. Lee? He contributed the majority of that info through his article, "Talking Terpenes" which was published in High Times (oddly enough) in 2013.

He also co-wrote Acid Dreams, a good read if you're interested in the history of LSD, as well as Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana, which in addition to a somewhat unfortunate title is also a bit wonky at times and for many of us it's not exactly groundbreaking information but a good read for the uninitiated, particularly regarding the development of California's Prop 215 program.

Props on posting the info seaf0ur, I just like to give credit where credit is due. :tiphat:
 
B

Baron Greenback

This is absolutely fascinating, really interesting to understand a little of the science behind the plant.
As can seen, terpenes and their various interactions are vital, so, my question is this - I presume most people harvest at the time they deem ready, thus assuming that the terpenes, thc and all the other aromatic hydrocarbons are at their optimum point. The flowers continue to ripen after harvest, there is certainly some degradation of the hydrocarbons and surely this must continue until all the moisture has been driven away. Is it not better then to dry as quickly as possible without heat to capture everything at an optimal point?
Can anyone tell me why a room dehumidifier would be a bad idea? Everything to the point of cured in a week.
 
B

Baron Greenback

As you say, it is very much subjective. Am I right in thinking that depending upon harvest/drying/curing a pure indica can feel like it exhibits more traits associated with sativas (high rather than stoned, head over body sort of thing)?
Looking at things from a chemistry rather than biology point of view seems to me that we want to stop the degradation as soon as possible, half life and all that. I think of it as crystalising the aromatic hydrocarbons (this probably has absolutely no basis in science whatsoever and is personal speculation) to lock in my favoured "optimal point".
I was told by the guy who taught me that you could rescue badly grown plants by drying them right and utterly ruin an excellent grow by drying badly. Smaller flowers, no stick was his mantra.
 
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