The truth behind purple bud

Undeniably, purple bud is awesome. Purple cannabis strains look exotic and usually carry cool names like Black Cherry Soda or Grandaddy Purple. Is their deep purple pigment a sign of potency or do they taste any different than your regular green weed? Read on to find out.

First off, I'm going to explain why some marijuana strains become purple or another shade of color. The reason is simply that they genetically produce anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are a family of flavonoids that create pigments like blue, purple, or red. Fruits and vegetables like eggplants, blueberries, purple grapes, and red cabbage all contain anthocyanins. Genetically, some strains of marijuana have higher levels of anthocyanins. Because anthocyanins are such dominant pigment compounds, marijuana only needs to produce a small amount of these flavonoids to produce a bold color.

Cannabis plants that do not have many anthocyanins produce different colors in the last weeks of flowering. These plants contain carotenoids that cause the plant to show golden and yellow colors.

Anthocyanins are found in the vacuole of the cells in the plant's tissues leaves, flowers, and fruits. The flavonoids can also travel up into the marijuana trichome stalk. It can even be inside the trichome head itself, which looks really cool.

The word "anthocyanin" comes from two Greek words (like almost every other word): anthos, which means flower, and kyanos, meaning blue. The color spectrum that the plant has, whether it's purple, blue, red, is dependant upon the pH level. If the plant is in an acidic environment it will likely be colored red or pink. Neutral environments create purple colorization. Higher pH environments will cause blue hues, and yellow is created in an alkaline environment. Anthocyanin pigments thrive best in an acidic environment.

When a cannabis plant is still young it has high levels of chlorophyll that is why it looks green. Chlorophyll is important in that it is necessary for the photosynthesis process to take place. When the plant matures, it produces less chlorophyll. That is when the anthocyanins start to dominate and the beautiful hues of color start to appear.

The reason behind all of this is for the plant's survival. Anthocyanins protect photosynthetic tissues from the stress that was created by various light intensities. It's basically sunscreen for the cannabis plant's leaves. The other way in which anthocyanin production is helpful for the plant's survival is that the color can trick some insects into thinking that the plant is unhealthy therefore they will deter from laying eggs on it.

Environmental factors such as temperature play a role in the color of your cannabis plant. It could become blue, purple, or red due to a temperature drop. The chlorophyll production could decrease since in autumn the temperature becomes cooler and your plant will act accordingly. When temperatures are higher, anthocyanin production decrease.

Now for the answer you've all been waiting for... Although exotic colored cannabis looks like it can really take your head for a spin, it does not necessarily mean that it is more potent than green bud. For instance, if a purple bud was exposed to harsh cold temperatures then it could in fact be less potent. The THC levels in healthy purple and green bud are usually about the same. If you're paying more for your purple bud then it's just for the novelty of it since purple weed is more rare than green.

As far as the taste goes, purple weed's taste is dependant upon the strain, not the color. I've smoked purple weed that had an unimpressive flavor, but on the other hand, a different strain of purple bud has really struck my pallet. It was a very complex smoke that left me smacking my lips after each hit. So, just like green bud, it varies upon your own preferences. Just don’t expect it to taste like grape just because it's purple.