9) The cannabis industry is turning to terpenes

New trend goes beyond aromas and flavors to explore potential health benefits

Terpenes, terpenoids, or terps, whatever you call them, these compounds found in cannabis that give it its distinctive aromas and flavors are showing up in many consumer products. In U.S. states where medical and recreational cannabis are legal, companies are adding terpenes to tinctures, vape oils, lotions, foods and beverages, in addition to cannabinoids like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Elsewhere, similar products are marketed without THC, sporting labels claiming “whole plant medicine” or “full spectrum CBD” benefits.

The idea is that terpenes increase the health benefits of products, either alone or in synergy with other terpenes, THC, CBD and other minor cannabinoids found in cannabis. Most research has focused on the health effects of individual terpenes. For example, linalool, a terpene also found in lavender, has anti-anxiety effects. α-Pinene, also found in rosemary, may be energizing and improve mental alertness. Much less is known about how terpenes work together and in combination with cannabinoids.

A barely touched therapeutic potential

“We have only just begun to understand the therapeutic potential of cannabis,” says Ethan Russo, neurologist and director of R&D at the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute, based in the Czech Republic. “We have not "still taken the necessary steps to truly harness the capabilities of some of these minor cannabinoids, particularly in conjunction with optimized terpenoid profiles."

Russo prefers the term terpenoid to terpenes because “Terpenes are hydrocarbons. Terpenoids can contain oxygen or other elements, so the term terpenoid is actually more encompassing”, dit-il. “But when we talk about cannabis, the two terms are practically synonymous. »

A fuzzy understanding of how terpenes interact with other compounds in cannabis isn't stopping companies from getting into terpenes, however. Manufacturers are getting creative by adding these aromatic compounds to a wide range of products in an attempt to replicate or enhance the terpene profiles found in cannabis flowers.

The variability of terpene profiles

Plants create terpenes to protect themselves from predators or to attract pollinators. Each cannabis strain, sometimes called chemovar, has its own signature of terpenes and cannabinoids. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of these chemovars, each with often random names that often allude to the type of sensory experience the user may feel. For example, Lemon Kush is rich in limonene, a terpene also found in citrus peels, known for its mood-elevating and antibacterial properties. Blue Dream is rich in myrcene, known for its relaxing and sedative effects. Sour Diesel is rich in myrcene and limonene, a combination known for its energizing and anti-stress effects .

However, two cannabis strains sold under the same name do not necessarily have the same chemical profile. Most of the time, they don't have it.

Many variables affect the terpene profile of plants, says Amber Wise, scientific director of Medicine Creek Analytics, a cannabis testing lab in Washington state. If plants with the same genetic heritage are grown outdoors or indoors, “you may end up with different terpene profiles in the end, because temperature, growing medium, nutrients, sunlight, all kinds of things affect the terpene profile of plants”, dit Wise.

Therapeutic applications of terpenes

David Heldreth, a longtime cannabis grower and medical cannabis patient, began investigating how different growing conditions affect the composition of cannabis nearly a decade ago. He has patented a series of lighting changes and treatments based on fertilizers, plant growth hormones and enzymes that increase the production of minor cannabinoids, such as cannabigerol and cannabichromene, as well as specific terpenes.

Today, Heldreth is the chief science officer at True Terpenes, an Oregon-based company that markets terpenes to companies that reformulate them into various consumer goods. Companies add True Terpenes' formulations to edible products like chocolate, beverages like soda and beer, and various skin lotions, Heldreth says. Manufacturers also add these terpene formulations to vape oils containing cannabinoids.

Growing demand for terpenes

Demand for terpenes is exploding in the United States now that hemp-derived CBD is legal nationwide. It's currently too expensive to harvest and extract CBD from hemp flowers, so companies use the entire plant, including leaves and stems, says Heldreth.

Many companies use ethanol to extract CBD from whole plant matter. When the ethanol is removed, the terpenes are lost through volatilization. So, companies often reintroduce terpenes into their final products. Unfortunately, “there are no additional terpenes available from cannabis”, dit Heldreth.

True Terpenes sources its terpenes from other natural products, such as obtaining linalool from lavender and limonene from citrus fruits. The company works with cannabis cultivators to obtain analytical data on terpenes in various cannabis strains. She then develops formulations containing around 40 terpenes at percentages that mimic the chemical signatures of popular cannabis strains. The formulations are blends of essential oils generally recognized as safe by food regulators. Some of the products also contain refined coconut oil.

The challenges of vaping formulations

Cannabinoids are not water soluble, and formulation strategies differ for edible and topical products compared to those intended for inhalation. In aqueous products like beverages, cannabinoids are often encapsulated in micelles and microemulsions using proprietary methods developed by pharmaceutical companies.

Vape oils require a diluting agent, such as propylene glycol, poly(ethylene glycol), or vegetable glycerin, the same chemicals used in e-cigarette liquids. Some companies use medium chain triglycerides from refined coconut oil.

When these thinning agents are heated, they emit formaldehyde, warns Jeff Raber, co-founder and CEO of the Werc Shop, a California-based cannabis contract manufacturing and testing company. « It's not something you want to inhale », he said.

“We don't know anything about the effects of inhaling terpenes or the breakdown products they might form after exposure to high heat. »

The Werc Shop was granted a U.S. patent earlier this year for a diluting agent composed of the terpene phytol and related compounds. The company is now marketing a formulation called Nexus 2.0 that combines phytol with other terpenes and compounds found in cannabis. Formulation improves stability, performance and inhaling safety of vaping products, says Raber.

The Implications of THC Inclusion

Olala, a recreational cannabis company in Washington state, started out making vaping oils. Today, the company's biggest source of revenue is cannabis beverages—soda, coffee, sparkling water and terpene tonics—says company president Randy Reed.

The company is focused on making the highest quality products possible, whether beverages, vaping oils, topicals or capsules, Reed says. “We don’t know which direction the cannabis industry is going. You have to be flexible. To that end, Olala has developed a manufacturing facility that can quickly pivot and change to offer consumers the products they want, Reed says. This includes making products with specific terpene profiles, as well as THC and other cannabinoids.

Olala products start with fresh cannabis flowers. The company extracts all the cannabinoids and terpenes it can using a supercritical CO₂ extraction technique, selecting the appropriate temperatures and pressures for the desired compounds. Olala product formulations primarily contain terpenes found naturally in cannabis, says Reed.

Like True Terpenes, Olala creates formulations containing around 40 terpenes to match the chemical signatures of popular cannabis strains. The company has complete control over the amount of each ingredient added to its products. “For our edibles, we don’t want all these terpenes”, Reed said. The smell and taste of terpenes, which can be quite bitter, would dominate the other flavors of the product, « par exemple, la crème d'orange ou le citron vert dans un soda », he said.

Other Olala products, like vape oils and terpene tonics, formulated to taste like specific cannabis flowers, have higher concentrations of terpenes. Anecdotal evidence suggests that terpene tonics high in myrcene or linalool will make you more relaxed, Reed says. Other terpene tonics rich in α-pinene and terpinolene will give you a more stimulating effect, he adds. Terpene tonics are “a designer thing”, Reed said.. “You have a feeling for different chemovars or chemical profiles of flowers. »

The inclusion of THC in its products differentiates Olala from much of the CBD industry, which markets products for wellness rather than recreation. So-called full-spectrum or whole-plant THC-free CBD tinctures are gaining popularity. These extracts contain several minor cannabinoids in addition to CBD. The problem is that there is “supposedly over 300 hemp CBD companies online”, says Bonni Goldstein, medical director of Canna-Centers, « a medical cannabis practice based in California. It's impossible to tell what's in these bottles other than asking the company for a certificate of analysis or paying a lab to test a sample », she says. “There are good quality CBD products and waste”, she warns.

Goldstein treats children with epilepsy, cancer, severe attention deficit disorder, debilitating Tourette syndrome, and mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, and self-harm. She highlights the importance of accurate labeling of CBD oils when used for medical purposes.

Whole plant extracts: superior effectiveness

Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first pure CBD drug, Epidiolex, for the treatment of seizures in children with two rare disorders. The drug, manufactured by GW Pharmaceuticals, does not contain any other cannabinoids or terpenes derived from cannabis.

Epidiolex offers certainty in CBD dosing, but researchers in Brazil have found that it is less effective than equivalent doses of CBD in extracts that also contain all of the cannabinoids and terpenes found in cannabis flowers. They reported that it takes much less, about 22% of the dose of pure CBD, to treat severe seizures with whole plant CBD extracts (Front Neurol. 2018, DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2018.00759).

“Because of the synergy, even a touch of THC or anticonvulsant terpenoids like linalool can mean the difference between control and lack thereof” when it comes to seizures, says Russo of the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute. “If you need five times more pure CBD, that doesn't mean CBD is a bad medicine. This means the plant is doing better. »

Whole plant extracts not only are more effective but also have fewer side effects than pure CBD at higher doses, Russo says. Ultimately, he says, whole cannabis extracts will have an advantage over pure compounds in almost all cases..

As a result, some parents of children with chronic illnesses continue to use CBD oils rather than Epidiolex. These oils can be whole plant extracts or CBD extracts with added terpenes. People who buy CBD oils online sometimes pay to have the oils tested by private laboratories, Goldstein says. In some cases, labs reported high levels of pesticides, lead and isopropyl alcohol, she said. In other cases, the amount of CBD in the bottle was too low to treat a pediatric patient with epilepsy.

These issues lead many families to make their own oils by purchasing raw cannabis flowers from a dispensary, Goldstein says. This allows them to control quality as well as try many varieties that are not available in manufactured oil form, she notes. Each strain has subtly different effects, and some work better than others for particular patients.

Using oils or extracts from cannabis flowers directly is the best way to get health benefits from cannabis, some say. “There is a purist argument that we should keep cannabis together” and not introduce terpenes from other natural products, says Toby Astill, global food market manager at instrumentation company PerkinElmer. But it probably makes no difference where the terpenes come from, as long as they are food grade and the product manufacturers can match the profiles found in cannabis flowers. « En fin de compte, si vous savez analytiquement ce qu'est votre terpène, c'est la même chimie de chaque source », he said. “It works both ways. »

source: HERE