What Are Phytocannabinoids? The Plant-Made Cousins of Your Own Cannabinoids

What are phytocannabinoids?

Phytocannabinoids are the cannabinoids made by plants, with THC and CBD as the headliners. The simplest definition: any cannabinoid produced in the trichomes of a cannabis plant. Once extracted and consumed, they interact with receptors in your body to produce a whole range of psychoactive and therapeutic effects. Plants aren't the only ones in the game, though: animals make cannabinoids too, and the ones produced inside the mammalian body are called endocannabinoids.

Cannabinoids are a class of fat-loving (lipophilic) molecules that interact with the body's endocannabinoid system (ECS). Phytocannabinoids, also called exogenous cannabinoids, are plant-derived cannabinoids made by the glandular trichomes that coat the surface of the Cannabis sativa plant. Trichomes are the tiny resin glands behind pretty much every compound people actually want from the plant. Researchers have identified more than 100 cannabinoids in cannabis, but only the two biggest names have been studied in any depth: delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).

The word cannabinoid covers a broad family of chemical compounds made by lots of different living things. Generally speaking, these chemicals help regulate and balance a whole set of biological functions.

The cannabinoid world usually splits into two main camps: phytocannabinoids and endocannabinoids. The difference is simple. Phytocannabinoids are made by plants; endocannabinoids are made by mammals.

Endogenous cannabinoids, or endocannabinoids, are the ones your own body produces. Every bodily function needs a specific balance of conditions to run at full capacity, and when that balance is reached it's called homeostasis. Endocannabinoids play a big role in survival by helping the body hold that balance. Because our bodies already use cannabinoid molecules to regulate so many functions, we come pre-wired with plenty of targets the cannabis plant can switch on.

Structurally, endocannabinoids and phytocannabinoids aren't necessarily that different. Both activate the ECS by binding to cannabinoid receptors. Endocannabinoids drive a homeostatic effect, nudging the body back toward a balanced, healthy state.

Phytocannabinoids can produce more noticeable medicinal effects, and some researchers think they may help make up for low endocannabinoid levels when they trigger a therapeutic response. They can also get you high, which is something endocannabinoids on their own can't do.

The human body makes cannabinoids to survive, by keeping homeostasis running. The cannabis plant also makes cannabinoids to survive, but as a much more direct response to outside pressure. The phytocannabinoids its trichomes produce coat the surface of the plant as a shield against environmental threats like hungry insects and harsh weather.

How the cannabis plant makes phytocannabinoids

Cannabinoids are built through biosynthesis, where enzymes kick off a chain of chemical reactions that turn simple molecules into complex ones. The enzymes behind the cannabinoids most of us know are CBDA synthase, CBCA synthase and THCA synthase. They take the core precursor cannabinoids, cannabigerovarinic acid (CBGVA) and cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), and convert them into the acidic cannabinoids cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), cannabichromenic acid (CBCA) and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA).

Those cannabinoids can be transformed further through decarboxylation. When a compound decarboxylates, it sheds a carboxyl group and releases carbon dioxide, either from heat or from long exposure to environmental stress. THCA and CBDA decarboxylate into THC and CBD, respectively, and only then does THC become intoxicating. THC, CBD and other neutral cannabinoids can also break down into other cannabinoids through oxidation, meaning exposure to oxygen. CBD, for example, can oxidize into the metabolites cannabielsoin (CBE) and cannabinodiol (CBND).

The ECS helps the body stay in working balance through three main components: the “messenger” molecules our bodies make, the receptors those molecules bind to, and the enzymes that break them down. Pain, stress, appetite, energy metabolism, heart and blood vessel function, reward and motivation, reproduction and sleep are just some of the functions the endocannabinoid system has a hand in.

Cannabinoid receptors fall into two categories: CB1 and CB2. CB1 receptors are found mostly in the central nervous system, where they regulate a huge range of brain functions. In fact, they're the most widely expressed receptor of their kind in the brain. CB1's main job is to control when and how often other neurotransmitters get released, such as serotonin, dopamine and glutamate. CB2 receptors are found mostly on immune cells, which travel through the body and brain via the bloodstream. They also show up on neurons in a few select brain regions. CB2 receptors help steer immune responses, including pain and inflammation. Phytocannabinoids interact with the ECS by binding to these receptors, which in turn sets off a regulatory response in the body.

Everyone's endocannabinoid system is unique. How much endocannabinoid a person produces varies a lot, and so does the number of cannabinoid receptors in their body.

What is CBD?

CBD is short for cannabidiol, one of the many cannabinoids or chemical compounds found in marijuana and hemp.

You're probably already familiar with tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, another compound in the cannabis plant and its main psychoactive ingredient. But unlike THC, CBD doesn't get you high. In other words, it's not the part responsible for the buzz.

CBD is just one of the hundreds of active compounds identified in cannabis so far, and one of more than 100 known cannabinoids.

What is THC?

THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. It's a cannabinoid molecule in marijuana (cannabis) long recognized as the main psychoactive ingredient, in other words the substance that makes people who use weed feel high or stoned.

THC works by binding to the body's cannabinoid receptors, which are found throughout the brain and nervous system. THC can be detected in the body for far longer than most other drug compounds, well past the few hours the high actually lasts.

Cannabinoid receptors are concentrated in brain areas tied to thinking, memory, pleasure, coordination and time perception. THC latches onto these receptors and activates them, affecting a person's memory, pleasure, movement, thinking, concentration, coordination, and sense of time and sensory input.

THC stimulates brain cells to release dopamine, which creates euphoria. It also interferes with how information is processed in the hippocampus, the part of the brain in charge of forming new memories.

You might also like...