FYI - i had informed ACE that their Ethiopian was testing high for THCV a few years ago, so glad they are now sharing that info on their website
We have found THCV in a number of African sativas including Malawi, Durban (landrace not Amsterdam hybrid), Madagascar, and others - but the Ethiopian through ACE had the highest amount from a landrace that had not been worked for THCV - peace
Awesome of you to bless this seed increase and share this work out freely🙏
Any advice on how to visually select for the higher Thcv level phenos or phenos to cull out.
Were you able to achieve this high percentage by using lab testing? Any thoughts you would like to share?
I did use lab testing to select my breeding plants - i selected the highest THCV:THC ratio plants and bred with those.
LEAF TESTING: THCV ratios to THC change dramatically throughout the life cycle of the plant, and this is what I have seen…
If a young plant has a lab leaf test of 2 THCV : 1 THC ratio, the final flower will probably be the opposite 1 THCV : 2 THC
Unlike CBD which keeps the same CBD:THC ratio from young leaves all the way to final flower, the THCV ratio changes throughout the plant lifecycle usually decreasing in THCV ratio in the flower.
ALSO - if you are going to do lab testing, make sure you lab tests for THCVa - if they only test for THCV (decarb), this will tell you nothing because in raw plants, it is in the acid form THCVa. Not all labs test for THCVa, so make sure they do before wasting your time and money.
Some people have reached out to me about doing light manipulation to increase THCV contact - UV and far infrared lights… I don’t know anything about this, but some people report being able to double THCV percentages by using these techniques… I grow purely outdoors, so I am just focused on breeding for THCV genetics without light manipulation, but I’d be interested in learning about ways to increase THCV if it were easy (and natural).
Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) is a propyl analogue of THC most often encountered in low concentration in dried plant material, but in THCV-rich plants up to 16% THCV by dry weight has been recorded (Meijer & Hammond, 2005). Mechanistically speaking, THCV can behave as both an agonist and an antagonist at CB1 receptors depending on the concentration (Pertwee, 2008). THCV produces weight loss, and decreases body fat and serum leptin concentrations with increased energy expenditure in obese mice (Cawthorne, Wargent, Zaibi, Stott, & Wright, 2007; Riedel et al., 2009). THCV also demonstrates prominent anticonvulsant properties in rodent cerebellum and pyriform cortex (Hill et al., 2010). THCV appears as a fractional component of many southern African cannabis chemotypes, although plants highly predominant in this agent have been produced (de Meijer et al., 2003; de Meijer & Hammond, 2016). THCV has the CB2-based ability to suppress carageenan-induced hyperalgesia and inflammation, and both phases of formalin-induced pain behavior via CB1 and CB2 in mice (Bolognini et al., 2010).
Antagonizing CB1 receptors can suppress appetite and the intoxicating effects of THC. However, caution must be emphasized when developing CB1 receptor antagonists. Clinical studies in human populations studying the antagonists of CB1 receptors with the drug rimonabant (SR141716A) led to depressive episodes and potentially worsened neurodegenerative disease outcomes, and ultimately this drug was withdrawn from the market (McLaughlin, 2012). Despite this setback, SR141716A remains a very important research tool for unlocking potential medical treatments targeting the CB receptors and deepening the understanding of the ECS. Importantly, the neutral antagonism mechanism of action of THCV seems to be free of the adverse events associated with the CB1 inverse agonists (McPartland, Duncan, Di Marzo, & Pertwee, 2015)."
Now onto the CB2 receptor,
“Background: Complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS-I) remains one of the most clinically challenging neuropathic pain syndromes with unclear mechanisms. In the spinal cord, microglial appears to be an initiator of allodynia in neuropathic conditions, and activated microglia express CB2 receptors. Chemokine fractalkine receptor (CX3CR1) is primarily located in the microglia and is essential for neuroinflammation. The role of CX3CR1 and CB2 in CRPS-I remains unknown**.** Currently, there is no effective symptomatic treatment for CRPS-I. Cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) agonists have emerged as promising therapy for many neuropathic pain syndromes. MDA7 is a novel selective CB2 agonist. We hypothesized that the CB2 receptor functions in a negative-feedback loop and that early MDA7 administration can blunt the neuroinflammatory response and prevent mechanical allodynia induced by chronic post-ischemic pain (CPIP) through interference with specific signaling pathways in CRPS-I.”
I can follow along with some of the technical language, basically says it may help with Allodynia. Allodynia is a symptom from a number of disorders, makes life real shitty for the people with it. Seems the THCV may help with mechanical Allodynia. In real life terms, it may not hurt to wear clothes again.
Oh heck yeah, Mr. JadeNectar himself here to bless the grow thread! I’m glad you made your way over here to see the interest. I appreciate the quick response to email.
I first heard about Free The V from Tao in a thread I made specifically about THCV strains. A lot of other high-V strains are mentioned there and some have source links, although ACE’s Ethiopian and Free The V appear to be the highest total THCV strains. Check it out: Strains high in THCV
Again, the stoke level is high. Medical benefits off the charts. CANNOT WAIT!
I’ll be following along as well. It’s all very interesting to me. I’d love to grow and breed with it as well. It’ll be so cool when science unlocks more of these cannabis mysteries.
Thanks for letting us all know about the project, @ElMasSabroso. Cool stuff. peace