Beyond Strain Names: Pioneering Cannabis Flower Categorization Could Transform Medical Applications

Researchers at the University of New Mexico (UNM) have collaborated with software developers from Releaf App to create a new cannabis flower categorization system. This breakthrough addresses a significant challenge in medical cannabis science: how to identify and clinically investigate cannabis plants and their unique chemical profiles, regardless of strain names or other arbitrary factors prevalent in the current industry.

What Happened

Utilizing data from the Releaf App on cannabis phytochemical profiles and patient outcomes, the UNM scientists developed an indexing system capable of distinguishing individual plant strains based on their primary cannabinoid and terpene contents, scientifically known as "cannabis chemovars."

In their recent study, "Systematic Combinations of Major Cannabinoid and Terpene Contents in Cannabis Flower and Patient Outcomes: A Proof-of-Concept Assessment of the Vigil Index of Cannabis Chemovars" (VICC), published in the Journal of Cannabis Research, UNM researchers Jacob Vigil and Sarah Stith used Releaf App data to design a comprehensive cannabis product indexing system. The study demonstrated that unique chemovars differ in their therapeutic effects, a long-held belief among cannabis users but largely untested by the scientific community.

Why It Matters

Cannabis research has been historically limited by the plant's natural heterogeneity – its tendency to develop unique chemical profiles due to genetics and influenced by nearly every aspect of standard cultivation, harvesting, and processing methods. This inability to fully standardize the cannabis plant has significantly restricted the generalizability of cannabis-based research findings and the reliable application of cannabis-based treatments.

Lead scientist Jacob Miguel Vigil explained, "While the cannabis plant's natural ability to develop different types of chemical profiles may complicate standardization of cannabis medications, as is typical of conventional pharmaceuticals, its inherent phytochemical heterogeneity may also explain why the cannabis plant is effective at treating so many different types of health conditions."

Vigil expressed hope that the new user-friendly indexing system would help scientists, healthcare providers, and patients better identify and distinguish cannabis plant strains and their unique desired effects, the ultimate goal of most cannabis-based research.

Co-author Sarah Stith emphasized the importance of measuring and leveraging the inherent heterogeneity in cannabis to generate improved and expanded therapeutic benefits, rather than attempting to transform it into a conventional medication, such as through the FDA's required standardization of investigational new drugs (IND).

Methodology

The study analyzed over 6,000 cannabis usage sessions, identifying 478 distinct cannabis plant chemovars. It demonstrated that the most frequently consumed plant strains exhibit clinically distinct effects and side effect experiences. The Releaf App, a popular cannabis education software application, was used to collect the data, allowing for comparison of effectiveness and side effect reporting across products, symptom types, combustion methods, and cannabis administration sessions.

The innovative indexing system employed 4-character codes based on phytochemical potencies, including THC, CBD, and detected primary and secondary terpenes. The results generally indicated improved effectiveness for treating pain, depression, or anxiety with chemovars containing above-average levels of mercene and terpinolene and non-detectible levels of CBD.

Prior to the creation of the Vigil Index of Cannabis Chemovars (VICC), cannabis plants and products were primarily characterized by arbitrary and unreliable strain names, often invented by producers, retailers, or secondary online references like Leafly.

Tyler Dautrich, COO of MoreBetter (Releaf App), stated, "Due to the modernization and hybridization of the cannabis plant, strain names are largely irrelevant and nothing more than a marketing strategy used by brands and retailers to try and sell products."

The study provides a proof-of-concept for a more accurate and legitimate way to classify cannabis flower and better inform consumer purchasing. Stay tuned for more developments in the field.

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Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash