In my opinion, nothing can beat the skunky smell of Cannabis aside from the infrequent similar odor in some lavender varieties (to be discussed at a later time). Does this mean that that particular strain is more potent or just makes me feel good?
This article looked at our perceptions regarding this. The aroma (smell) of cannabis is of interest to many for different reasons but to date (2018) had not been quantified. Law enforcement is concerned for one reason: detection of “illegal” substances, while consumers are looking for gratification, a sense of just feeling good.
This study used “untrained” consumers, dried cannabis flower , and a characterized aroma profile from eleven strains sold in Colorado. Perceptions are related to potency, price and smoking interest. One of the goals was to develop a sensory lexicon similar to product categories such as wine, beer or coffee. They wanted to determine whether a strain specific aroma can be linked to the consumers’ perception of product quality. Strains were selected to cover a wide range of odor characteristics. The stimulus, one gram of dried cannabis flower, was presented in a wide mouth jar that had been frozen and thawed 2 hours before the test. Forty eight descriptors were offered for the test subject to use to describe the aroma. After describing the aroma, they were asked: how potent do you think this is, how interested are you in smoking a sample, how much would you expect to pay for a gram.
Chromatographic analysis was performed to determine THC content so as to relate to the perceived potency.
Consumers rated the samples using the descriptors. The most frequently used descriptor was “earthy” followed by herbal, woody, flowery, sweet citrus, pungent, pine, tea, sage, diesel, lemon, lavender, nutty, spicy, and skunk (my favorite).
Differences in aroma were linked to quality. Higher quality was associated with citrus, lemon, sweet and pungent over those of earthy, herbal and woody characteristics. Potency (THC concentration) did not correspond to smell or value perception. Most believe that smell is indicative of potency and value which proved not to be true. THC is odorless thus odor is based on the 140 terpenes that can be found in the cannabis flower and not the THC content as well as the recently described volatile sulfur compounds.
Apparently, that which makes you feel good prior to smoking, e.g. the aroma, is not just the THC content but the whole full spectrum content of the plant. Most people probably already knew this but perhaps it would slow down the authorities when they detect the typical odors and not to jump the gun and assume someone has an illegal possession. It could just be a harmless lavender plant.
Citation: Gilbert AN, DiVerdi JA (2018) Consumer perceptions of strain differences in Cannabis aroma. PLoS ONE 13(2): e0192247. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192247 Editor: John I. Glendinning, Barnard College, UNITED STATES
Note that further studies of the volatile sulfur compounds are in progress and we hope to report on them s
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