As the marijuana industry develops and expands and expands, so do consumer expectations. As the cannabis market matures, consumers are less satisfied with products that simply “work”. Instead they are looking for authentic tastes and scents of real cannabis. This increasing demand has put Cannabis derived terpenes at the heart of important product development conversations.
Image credit: massterpenes.com
What are Terpenes and How Do They Define Cannabis Identity
Terpenes are aromatic compounds responsible for the distinct scent and flavor of marijuana strains. They can affect the perception of a particular product long before its effects are felt. When properly preserved, terpenes convey the freshness of the product, its strain ancestry, and overall quality. Even high-potency substances treated improperly may make them appear artificial.
Cannabis flower is the main source of the real Cannabis Terpenes that capture the natural aroma of the plant. This is a distinct distinction from botanical blends of terpenes which attempt to imitate cannabis profiles by using compounds extracted not from cannabis plants. While botanical blends have a cheaper price, they don’t have the complexity that cannabis lovers would like to see.
The extraction method influences the outcome
The method used to extract Terpenes plays a huge role on their final characteristics. Hydrocarbon extraction from fresh or fresh-frozen plants is preferred to capture vivid, resinous aromas. These methods protect compounds that can be easily destroyed by high-temperature processing or drying.
At the same time, CO2 terpenes offer a different advantage. CO2 terpene extraction gives precise control as well as safe and stable terpene fragments. While the smell is less in intensity than those of live hydrocarbons, CO2 profiles are highly appreciated for their purity and consistency. This is especially true in formulations when balance is more important than intensity.
Each method is not inherently “better.” Each serves an objective that is different, and informed producers choose according to their goals instead of marketing trends.
Fresh Material makes a noticeable change
The high-quality terpenes of cannabis begin at harvest. Terpenes have a volatile nature and degrade when exposed either to heat, oxygen or time. If you use a fresh, frozen flowers or a material that has been carefully preserved, you will be able to lock in your original aroma.
Once degradation occurs the extraction method cannot fully restore what was lost. The industry of terpenes is concentrated on the source of raw materials as well as their handling. Aroma clarity and depth are instantly different between fresh material and compromised material.
What to Look for when purchasing Cannabis Terpenes
When looking at Cannabis Terpenes it’s easy to overlook the glitzy descriptions. Transparency is the most important thing. Buyers should know how the terpenes were extracted, processed and reprocessed.
Consistency is yet another important element. True cannabis-derived products must smell exactly the same from batch to batch, even when it is specific to the strain. The presence of large variations is often an indicator for companies who care about quality.
Terpene Craft: a Focused Approach
Some producers attempt to be all things to all people. Others choose to specialize. Mass Terpenes falls into the second group, which focuses exclusively on the extraction of terpenes rather than spreading the attention to multiple different types of products. This narrow focus allows better control of aromas as well as the process and final product.
Mass Terpenes prioritizes small-batch manufacturing and post-processing that lets the scent speak for itself. Instead of relying heavily on hype, Mass Terpenes wants to let the aroma speak for it’s own voice.
Aroma as a Quality Check
It is impossible to change when a bottle has been opened. The highest-quality cannabis-derived terpenes are revealed instantly, with a the complexity and familiarity that even artificial blends are unable to compete with. The aroma is the main gauge of a successful blend.
As the cannabis industry develops, authenticity becomes the key differentiation. This is true whether producers choose live-extracted profiles or CO2 refined Terpenes. When terpenes and cannabis are treated with care and respect, they can do more to enhance the quality of the quality of products. They carry the culture of cannabis into the future in its most recognizable forms.