What Are Terpenes and How Do They Affect Cannabis?
The cannabis industry has been going through a period of massive growth since legalization here in Colorado. It seems like every few years there’s a new innovation or discovery. In the last couple of years, for example, people have started to become incredibly interested in cannabis terpenes. If you’re not familiar with cannabis-derived terpenes yet, now is the time to learn more about these organic compounds.
What Are Terpenes in Marijuana?
Terpenes are organic compounds that occur naturally in cannabis. They can be found in other plants, too, and even some insects produce terpenes. So why are cannabis terpenes important? To understand why cannabis connoisseurs have become so interested in terpenes, you have to know about what they do.
What Do Cannabis Terpenes Do?
For many years, proponents of aromatherapy have believed that aromatic terpenes (normally in the form of essential oils) have therapeutic value. We haven’t seen compelling bodies of scientific evidence that either confirm or deny that, so at this point, all we have is anecdotal evidence from consumers. As terpenes relate specifically to cannabis, though, we’ve started to hear a lot more about something called the entourage effect.
What Is the Entourage Effect of Cannabis?
Think about it this way: Depending on the entourage of friends you bring with you, your behavior might be different. For example, if you’re at a fancy restaurant with your grandparents or your in-laws, you’ll probably be well behaved. Then you might be a little bit more boisterous later when you’re out on the town with your wildest friends from high school.
Experts in the cannabis industry are starting to believe cannabinoids are the same way, and they call the phenomenon the entourage effect. The theory is that cannabinoids affect your body differently depending on the terpenes that are present. This helps explain why different strains have become linked to different results. There are more than 100 known cannabis terpenes, and each plant has its own terpene profile.
Which Weed Strains Have the Most Terpenes?
There is no hard and fast answer to this. All healthy strains have healthy terpene profiles, which is why the best cannabis often has a very potent smell. Plants that are grown with great care will have plenty of terpenes. From there, how a plant is handled will protect or damage the terpenes.
Terpenes are sensitive to light and heat, so it’s important to store the cannabis properly. If the plant gets too hot during the curing process, some of the terpenes will burn off. Similarly, it’s important to make sure the plant stays out of the light as much as possible.
Buy High Terpene Cannabis in Federal Heights
Visit Green Sativa when you want to find premium cannabis with excellent terpenes. We’re passionate marijuana advocates, and we take great pride in caring for our flower the right way from seed to sale. Visit our Federal Heights dispensary to see what we mean!
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