Cannabis chemotyping might seem, at first glance, to be a trendy new buzz phrase in the industry. Efforts, though, have been underway for decades to establish an objective classification system to distinguish angiosperm specimens of the family Cannabaceae based on their suite of chemical constituents. Most notably these studies have focused on the cannabinoids THC and CBD, which led to common acceptance of chemotypic profiling capable of delineating drug-type marijuana and fiber-type hemp from a forensic standpoint.
The term chemotype refers to the chemical phenotypes found in cannabis and other plants. We can think of cannabis chemotyping as the tallying of chemical compounds with pharmacological (and forensic) relevance, the results of which assist in classifying the vast array of cannabis cultivars into functional groups. In other words, clusters of strains give different physiologically-based experiences to the end-user. Chemotypic profiling of medicinal and culinary plants and the study of chemotypic variation is common, for example, in lavender, peppermint, basil, thyme, sage, and many others. In another example of borrowed horticultural science from more established fields, chemotypes describe the phytochemical diversity of cannabis phenotypes by measuring their chemical constituents. This is inherently useful in re-emerging and novel medicinal applications of cannabis, in addition to the increasing necessity of forensic identification to distinguish industrial hemp from psychoactive and medicinal cannabis.
Chemotype is formally defined as “the subspecies of a plant that have the same morphological characteristics (relating to form and structure) but produce different quantities of chemical components in their essential oils.” The specific suite of chemicals in a particular cultivar are accountable for the plant’s therapeutic properties and degree of efficacy in humans. Since Ethan Russo’s popularization of the entourage effect hypothesis, we now think of cannabis chemotyping as including a suite of secondary compounds beyond THC and CBD, with the ability to enhance the beneficial effects of therapeutic cannabinoids.
The terpene molecules in cannabis are thought to be responsible for augmenting the physiological relevant effects that give rise to a wide variety of user experiences. Efforts to characterize thousands of cannabis strains into chemotaxonomic groups according to terpene content (when cannabinoid content is held relatively constant) is encouraging in terms of potential clustering patterns. We can imagine in order to draw meaningful conclusions, it is paramount the analytical data are accurate and defensible to lay proper foundational database(s).
Read more at analyticalcannabis.com
