Terpenes & Secondary Metabolites
Terpenes, volatiles, flavonoids, secondary metabolism, aroma chemistry, and environmental influences.
Published lessons
These pages are organized here by subject. The permanent THC-ENC IDs remain stable behind the scenes even when a clearer display title is used.
Primary Versus Secondary Metabolism
Distinguish primary metabolism from specialized metabolism while showing that terpene, cannabinoid, flavonoid, phenolic, pigment, and volatile production remains integrated with carbon supply, energy, development, tissue identity, and plant function.
Isoprenoid Precursors and Terpene Biosynthesis
Explain how plastidial MEP and cytosolic mevalonate pathways supply five-carbon isoprenoid units and prenyl diphosphates for cannabis terpene biosynthesis without treating cellular compartments as perfectly isolated pools.
Monoterpenes
Describe cannabis monoterpenes as volatile C10 isoprenoids while separating tissue concentration, headspace abundance, chemical identity, odor threshold, and sensory perception.
Sesquiterpenes
Explain cannabis sesquiterpenes as C15 isoprenoids commonly derived from farnesyl diphosphate, with emphasis on lower volatility, multiproduct synthases, postharvest relative-abundance shifts, and analytical identity.
Terpene Synthases and Genetic Variation
Connect cannabis terpene-synthase gene-family diversity with functional enzyme assays, multiproduct catalysis, tissue expression, inherited volatile profiles, and the limits of predicting aroma from sequence or markers alone.
Myrcene
Describe beta-myrcene as a common cannabis monoterpene while separating biosynthesis, measured abundance, aroma description, cultivar labels, and human-effect claims.
Limonene
Explain limonene identity, stereochemistry, cannabis biosynthesis, oxidation, analytical context, and why citrus aroma or human effects cannot be inferred from one limonene value.
Alpha-Pinene and Beta-Pinene
Distinguish alpha-pinene and beta-pinene as separate bicyclic monoterpenes and explain their biosynthetic, stereochemical, analytical, and sensory context in cannabis.
Linalool
Describe linalool as an oxygenated monoterpene with stereochemical, biosynthetic, analytical, and sensory complexity while keeping plant chemistry separate from cultivar or human-effect claims.
Beta-Caryophyllene
Explain beta-caryophyllene as a cannabis sesquiterpene, its relationship with alpha-humulene and oxidation products, and the boundary between plant-profile evidence and receptor or health claims.
Humulene, Ocimene, Terpinolene, and Minor Terpenes
Interpret humulene, ocimene, terpinolene, and other lower-abundance terpenes as parts of a multicomponent cannabis volatile profile rather than isolated predictors of aroma, lineage, quality, or effect.
Volatile Sulfur Compounds
Explain volatile sulfur compounds as low-abundance, high-impact contributors to some cannabis aromas and show why standard terpene panels do not capture the full volatilome.
Flavonoids and Pigments
Explain cannabis flavonoids, anthocyanin pigmentation, and cannflavins while separating visible color from cannabinoid potency, lineage, quality, and human-health claims.
Phenolics and Antioxidant Defense
Explain cannabis phenolic chemistry and antioxidant-defense concepts while distinguishing in-plant redox biology from extract-based antioxidant assays and human-health claims.
Aroma Development Across Flower Maturation
Explain how cannabis volatile profiles can change across flower maturation while rejecting a universal peak-aroma week or one visual maturity cue as a chemical measurement.
Temperature, Airflow, and Volatile Loss
Explain how temperature, moisture removal, gas exchange, exposure time, and compound volatility interact during cannabis drying without reducing volatile preservation to one universal temperature, humidity, or airflow recipe.
Oxidation, Packaging, and Storage
Explain how oxygen, light, temperature, time, package properties, and compound-specific chemistry reshape stored cannabis while rejecting simple claims that one package or atmosphere preserves every volatile and cannabinoid equally.
Terpene Sampling and Analytical Variation
Teach that a reported cannabis terpene profile is the result of both biological composition and a measurement chain including sampling, preparation, extraction or headspace conditions, chromatography, standards, calibration, and data processing.
Chemovar Classification Beyond Strain Names
Explain why measured chemical profiles provide a more defensible description of cannabis material than broad Indica/Hybrid/Sativa labels or strain names, while preserving the difference between chemotype, genotype, pedigree, phenotype, and product identity.
Entourage Claims: Evidence, Uncertainty, and Responsible Language
Evaluate cannabis ‘entourage effect’ claims by naming the compounds, dose, route, endpoint, model, and evidence level instead of treating entourage as one established mechanism or a universal property of whole-plant products.