Hey there folks! We’re back here again with some more cannabis education to help you feel like the smartest person in the room. This week we’re going to be harkening back to some earlier blog posts by looking at particular compounds and components of the cannabis plant. This time around, we’re going to be pulling back the veil on a seldom talked about part of cannabis: namely the Flavonoids.
…Be honest dude, you just made that word up.
While I appreciate the term sounds like something that a Care Bear would eat, I assure you that flavonoids are very real and an integral part of the makeup of the cannabis plant, not to mention a heavy lifter when it comes to one’s overall enjoyment of cannabis consumption. So, to get back on track, let’s take a look at what they do!
To put it simply, flavonoids are big contributors to the flavour and colour produced by the cannabis, much like the name implies. They differ from terpenes in that the terpenes are largely responsible for the aroma and largely don’t change the overall pigmentation of the flower. Together, these two components effectively determine the experience and enjoyment of the taste and smell of the flower your consuming, making flavonoids just as important as the rest of the parts of the cannabis plant. Like terpenes, many flavonoids can be found in various plants throughout nature, contributing not just to the flavour of the plant, but also to the the colour of the plant it appears in. Have you ever had a nice purple bud that looked like it came from Planet X? The same flavonoid that makes blueberries blue is the chemical contributing to that effect, namely a flavonoid that goes by the tongue twisting moniker of Anthoxanthin. On top of adding to the enjoyment of cannabis consumption and bag appeal, flavonoids are also being closely studied for their potential medicinal benefits. Early studies have shown that many of the cannabis specific flavonoids (otherwise known as cannaflavins) have anti-fungal and anti-oxidant properties.
How have I not heard about this until now?
For the same reason I only found out about social media a few years ago: a concentrated effort to prevent that knowledge from getting out. In my case, my friends and family though it was in society’s best interest that I keep my ranting and raving to myself (jokes on you now mom, I write a blog!). In the case of flavonoids, its just another part of the plant that was ignored for years due to a lack of regulated research. Those who study plants for a living are obviously well aware of the existence of flavonoids in nature, but even then the types of flavonoids that occur in cannabis and their effects have been under researched for years. Now that circumstances have changed, scientists are buckling down and figuring out more about the unique flavonoids that occur in cannabis and what their benefits might be, which is exciting stuff. The more we learn about weed, the more amazing it seems!
