Discovery of new compounds solves mystery of cannabis’ pungent smell – New Atlas

Many of these belong to a class of compounds known as terpenes, which are responsible for many characteristic plant smells, like pine or lavender, and experimental cannabis breeders often play with different terpene concentrations to develop hybrid strains with unique scents.

So considering the pungent aroma of cannabis is informally referred to as “skunk,” it seemed reasonable to home in on what VSCs in the plant could be linked with this highly specific smell.

One interesting finding in the study was how chemically similar these newly discovered cannabis VSCs are compared to some VSCs found in garlic.

The research demonstrated that despite these VSCs being very volatile, if processed correctly they can remain highly present in some extracts.

Another aspect to the study measured VSC concentrations across the plant’s growth cycle and following harvesting.

Kevin Koby, another researcher on the project, says these findings offer producers valuable insights if they are looking to maximize VSC content in future cannabis products.

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