Esters, Flavonoids and Cannabis

Hey folks! Welcome to another fun filled blog post from your only locally owned and operated cannabis retailer. Last week, I talked about how we were going to get into looking over some of the terpenes you’ll encounter in the various cannabis products you can find on the regulated market. Terpenes are one of the components that help to create the dynamic aromas (and effects) that appear in ganja.

                “But Brynn!” You say, pushing your glasses more securely onto your nose “those aren’t the only chemical components that come together to create the flavours and aromas of cannabis! What about the esters and flavonoids!”

                You are correct my bespectacled friend, What about the esters and flavonoids?

                So, this week we’re going to be pumping the breaks on talking about the many specific terpenes you’ll find in your electric lettuce and instead we’re going to take a brief look at what esters and flavonoids are and how they affect the weed we consume.

It’s a Matter of Taste

                Despite sounding like Pokémon names, esters and flavonoids are not adorable tiny creatures that you force into combat but are instead an integral part of the “entourage effect” that helps define our cannabis experience. Together with our old friends the terpenes, they’re the reason you’ll smoke a strain sometimes and be like “damn…how does this taste like banana?”. They also, handily enough, have some pharmacological (aka potentially beneficial) attributes and are background players responsible for helping growers get the most out of their cannabis grows.

Esters

                Esters are one of the many volatile organic compounds that help to make up the flavour and aroma of any plant, fruit and even appear in some animal fat. Now when we say a chemical is volatile, we don’t necessarily mean that it’s gonna explode in your face or have too much egg nog at a Christmas party and throw up on in a Santa hat like Uncle Rod did last year. What volatile means in this sense is that it’s an unstable chemical that is prone to change and can evaporate easily into an airborne form. Terpenes for example are volatiles.

Anywho, esters are primarily responsible for the sweet smells you’ll experience in cannabis. In particular banana, strawberry and pineapple aromas owe a lot of their impact to esters. So the question you might be asking is, ‘why the heck haven’t I heard of esters before?’. The answer to that question lies in simple math: They don’t make up a significant amount of the compounds present in cannabis. Cannabinoids and terps make up the vast majority of the chemistry of cannabis, while esters are difficult to detect and expensive to test for. To put it even more simply, it’s not worth it to the powers that be to test for them in any significant way.

Flavonoids

                I like it when something has its function in the name. It’s a handy, quick and visual way to express the purpose or significance of a thing without someone having to dig in too deep. For example, If I was named ‘Weedsmokey Bookready”, I feel like it would set peoples expectations appropriately.

Anyway, Flavonoids are handy in the sense that as the name implies, they help provide the flavour of the plants in conjunction with the terps and esters. They are also part of what gives cannabis its distinct colour or pigment and act as a defence mechanism in plants, working to protect them from UV light, bacteria and other foreign bodies that could inhibit or cripple the plant during it’s growth stage.

So, between helping our weed grow, adding to it’s flavour and contributing to the vibrant colours you find in your favorite strains, flavonoids are a crucial part of the cannabis experience.

             That about wraps up this brief look at esters and flavonoids as they appear in cannabis! While our industry isn’t yet at the point where testing for the potency of these volatile organic components is practical or even necessary, consumers are refining their palates, so I don’t think this is the last we’ll hear about these hidden heavy lifters.

            Now that you know all about esters and flavonoids, take a gander at our menu and put that chemistry lesson into practice!