When we talk about what makes up cannabis, we hear a lot about terpenes and cannabioids, but we hear far less about flavonoids.
Flavonoids are a type of phytonutrient (with “phyto-” meaning “plant”); and phytonutrients, which are found in virtually all plants, fruits, and vegetables that we consume, are partly responsible for a plant’s colors, odors, flavors, and other plant properties such as UV tolerance and pest protection. Licopene, for example, gives tomatoes and watermelon their color. And those beautiful, purple strains we love so much owe their beauty in part to anthocyanins.
Of the 200-or-so compounds we know to be in cannabis, 10% of them are cannabis-specific flavonoid: cannaflavins. Studies have shown that cannaflavins (as well as other flavonoids) may also have a variety of effects of your well-being. Unfortunately, flavonoids are dramatically understudied. We believe that the “entourage effect” — when terpenes, flavonoids, and cannabinoids are consumed together to produce greater enjoyment, and better therapeutic and psychological effects — relies just as equally on flavonoids than its brother and sister compounds.
