SC Laboratories has licensed Napro Research's proprietary data visualization tool PhytoFacts. "Clients testing cannabis through the lab will now have access to this game-changing reporting format and algorithm that provides a visual profile of each strain's chemical makeup," SC team explains. "The company aims to lead the conversation away from the indica and sativa, or the THC potency race, and begin defining cannabis through its chemometric strain characterizations."
"The problem is that there is little standardization when it comes to defining and determining terpenes," according to Josh Wurzer, co-founder and President of SC Labs. "Many of the largest flower and concentrate brands are promoting terpene content in a less than ideal manner. Cultivators, processors, retailers, and consumers could benefit from greater standardization when evaluating product quality and distinguishing label claims."
These chemometric profiles offer a more complete and visual overview of cannabis strains by pairing SC Labs' proprietary testing protocol with intuitive reports that complement a certificate of analysis (COA). End users from cultivators to consumers will be able to see the plant's chemical profile, proportion of terpenoids to cannabinoids, organoleptic attributes, and potential entourage effects, as noted by Mark A. Lewis and Ethan B. Russo, who advanced the science of terpenes through their publication titled, "Pharmacological Foundations of Cannabis Chemovars."
"Indica and Sativa are outdated and now obsolete terms when attempting to describe the effect of cannabis strains. They are, instead, morphological terms that primarily describe plants' growth trait," according to Alec Dixon, co-founder and Director of Client Relations. "The time has come that we as a community take a more educated and sophisticated approach towards understanding the range of what cannabis has to offer through establishing more appropriate markers for quality and predicting effects through chemical composition. The chemotype, or chemical makeup of cannabinoids and terpenes, are the bioactive compounds that create the unique entourage effects contained within the plant, and terpene content preserved is one of the greatest markers to substantiate quality from how a plant was grown. The quality of cannabis should be evaluated more holistically with THC being used as one of many markers alongside total terpene content, major and minor cannabinoid ratios, and relative cannabinoid to terpene ratios."
"Nearly a decade of research and development were invested into creating this easy-to-read reporting tool that can inform decision making at all levels of the cannabis ecosystem," said Dr. Lewis, president of Napro Research. "Science, production, and biotech-focused communities have been employing the PhytoFacts to drive innovation for years, and we are thrilled that SC Labs will now be expanding the use of this tool to the community of consumers and beyond," he added.
"Creating actionable data has been a primary focus for SC Labs since our founding," according to co-founder and CEO Jeff Gray. "This new report format is designed to be intuitive and helps budtenders and consumers identify the right strain for their desired effect. Perhaps even more important, SC Labs' clients focused on breeding and processing can selectively modulate the terpene ratios of their strains in order to maximize desired benefits. PhytoFacts has the potential to be utilized in a similar fashion to nutrition labels on food products."
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