Indica and sativa are commonly used to describe cannabis strains, but what is the difference between these two labels? Almost half of all ...
Indica and sativa are commonly used to describe cannabis strains, but what is the difference between these two labels?
Almost half of all Canadians have tried cannabis at some point in their lives. If you are one of them, you have probably been confronted with the choice between buying strains labelled indica or sativa.
Some people are adamant that indica strains are sedative with earthy aromas. In contrast, sativa strains are supposedly energising with sweet aromas. However, the extent to which indica and sativa label actually capture meaningful information is unclear.
Our team of researchers at Dalhousie University worked with Bedrocan International, a Dutch medical cannabis company, to study hundreds of cannabis strains with indica and sativa labels. We measured the chemical compounds produced by each strain. This included not only the major psychoactive cannabinoids like tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol but also the terpenes that give cannabis its distinctive aromas. We also measured the genetic profiles and were then able to examine the chemical and genetic differences between strains.
Detailed strain analyses
If labels describing cannabis strains do in fact represent two distinct groups of cannabis, then the differences should be reflected by chemical and genetic differences. Our study, published in Nature Plants, found that indica and sativa labels are largely meaningless.
It was frequently the case that strains...
