Marijuana THC
An elaboration on the phytochemical process that makes marijuana THC with photos and description.
The resin exuded by the glandular trichome forms a
sphere that encases the head cells.
When the resin spheres are separated from the dried plant material by
electrostatic attraction and placed on a microscope slide illuminated with a
100W incandescent bulb, they appear very dark when observed through a 300X
microscope. Since orange, red, and infrared are the component
wavelengths of incandescent light, and since the absorption of light makes
an object dark or opaque to the frequency of the incoming wave, one can
conclude that these wavelengths are probably not directly involved in
energizing the cannabinoid pathway.
However, the resin sphere is transparent to ultraviolet radiation.
The author found through trial and error that only one glandular
trichome exhibits the phytochemical process that will produce the amount of
THC associated with pain relief, appetite stimulation and anti-nausea;
euphoria and hallucinations are side-effects, however. This trichome
is triggered into growth by either of the two ways that the floral bract is
turned into fruit.
Of all the ways that optics are involved in the phytochemical production of
THC, the most interesting has to be how the head cells and cannabinoid
molecules are tremendously magnified by the resin sphere. These and
other facts are curiously absent from the literature. The footnotes
update the literature to include electrostatic separation of the resin
sphere from the dried plant material and marijuana parthenocarpy.
(1) "For all spheres, a ray drawn perpendicular to the sphere's surface will
intersect the center of the sphere, no matter what spot on the surface is
picked, and the magnifying power(a) of a glass sphere is greater the smaller
its size. A sphere of glass can also bring light that is heading to a
focus behind it to a point within it, with freedom from two aberrations,
spherial aberration and coma, but not from chromatic aberration.
Chromatic aberration results when different wavelengths are focused on
different planes and is the most difficult of the aberrations to correct.
The human eye lens also exhibits chromatic aberration, but a yellow
pigment(b) called the macula lutea in the fovea, an area at the rear of the
eyeball, corrects this problem by the way it absorbs blue light."
(a)"The formula to calculate the magnifying power of a sphere is
l=333/d, where l is the magnifying power and d is the diameter of the sphere
expressed in mm."
(b)Interestingly, the resin exuded by drug-type flowering female
marijuana plants has a yellow tint. Could this pigment work to correct
chromatic aberration in the resin sphere like the macula lutea does in the
fovea for the eyeball?
(2) Quoting from the Mahlberg and Kim study of hemp(a) "THC accumulated in
abundance in the secretory cavity where it was associated with the
following: cell walls, surface feature of secretory vesicles, fibrillar
material released from disc cell wall, and cuticle. It was not
associated with the content of the secretory vesicles."
The resin spheres contain the THC. It is not contained in the
leaf or floral bract. After the resin spheres are dissolved in solvent
or dislodged by electrostatic attraction, and a microscopic examination of
the leaf or floral bract has revealed that only the glandular trichomes'
stalks remain, no effect will be felt after smoking the dried plant material
from which the resin spheres have been removed.
(3) The electrostatic collection of the resin spheres from dried marijuana
plants with plenty of ripe seeds has been for hundreds of years the method
indigenous people of North Africa and Lebanon have used to make hashish.
Obtain a round metal can 8" or so in diameter x 3" or so in depth (the kind
that cookies come in) with a smooth lid. Obtain 2 ounces of dried
marijuana with plenty of ripe seeds in the tops. To remove the seeds
and stems, sift the marijuana tops through a 10-hole-to-the-inch wire
kitchen strainer into the can. Close the can with the lid and
vigorously shake the closed can three or four times. This gives the
resin spheres an excess negative charge. Let the can sit for a moment
and then remove the lid. Opposites attract. The negative-charged
resin spheres have been attracted to the metal surface of the can and lid
which has a positive charge. Take a matchbook cover or credit card and
draw the edge across the surface of the lid. Note the collected
powder. Observed under 300X magnification, the collected powder from
this "shake" is composed of resin spheres with an occasional non-glandular
trichome. As the marijuana is shaken again and again, and more of the
yellow resin spheres are removed from the plant material, the collected
powder gradually becomes green-colored as the number of non-glandular
trichomes increases in the collected powder. The greener the powder,
the less the effect.
(4) "Cannabinoids represent a dimer consisting of a terpene and a phenol
component. Cannabigerol (CBG) is the first component of the pathway.
It undergoes chemical change to form either cannabichromene (CBC), or
cannabidiol (CBD). Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is derived from
CBD."
(5) "Pate (1983) indicated that in areas of high ultraviolet radiation
exposure, the UVB (280-320 nm) absorption properties of THC may have
conferred an evolutionary advantage to Cannabis capable of greater
production of this compound from biogenetic precursor CBD. The extent
to which this production is also influenced by environmental UVB has also
been experimentally determined by Lydon et al. (1987)."
The writer's own experience allow for a more specific conclusion: If
the UVB photon is missing from the light stream(a), or the intensity as
expressed in µW/cm2 falls below a certain level(b), the phytochemical
process will not be completely energized with only UVA photons which are
more penetrating but less energetic, and the harvested resin spheres will
have mostly precursor compounds and not fully realized THC(c).
(a)Examples of an environment where the UVB photon would be missing
from the light stream include all indoor cultivation illuminated by HID
bulbs and in glass or corrugated fiberglass covered greenhouses.
(b)"The maximum UVB irradiance near the equator (solar elevation angle
less than 25 deg.) under clear, sunny skies is about 250 µW/cm2. It
was observed that the daily solar UVB in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (N24.4Lat.)
decreased from September to December by about 40% (Hannan et al. 1984).
The further a person is from the tropics, the less UVB radiation there is:
the average annual exposure of a person living in Hawaii is approximately
four times that of someone living in northern Europe." Below are some
UVB readings taken in Hoyleton, Illinois, on a clear sunny day in June by
David Krughoff as reported in Reptile Lighting 2000.
7am: 12 microwatts/cm2
8am: 74 microwatts/cm2
9am: 142 microwatts/cm2
10am: 192 microwatts/cm2
11am: 233 microwatts/cm2
12pm: 256 microwatts/cm2
1pm: 269 microwatts/cm2
2pm: 262 microwatts/cm2
3pm: 239 microwatts/cm2
4pm: 187 microwatts/cm2
5pm: 131 microwatts/cm2
6pm: 61 microwatts/cm2
(c)Cannabinoid pathway: Anywhere in this pathway UVB does a better job
than UVA in energizing a phytochemical reaction that will produce more fully
realized THC because "all cannabinolic compounds show an absorption maximum
between 270 and 280 nm in the ultraviolet region."
(6) Capitate-stalked glandular trichome.
(7) #1: The ovum has been fertilized and there is a seed developing: In the
areas of the Northern Hemisphere where indigenous people have grown
heterozygous drug-type marijuana for hundreds of years, pollination is used
to trigger the growth of the capitate-stalked glandular trichome on the
floral bract and concomitant leaves of the flowering females before the
autumnal equinox(a) so the majority of seeds will be ripe(b) before
November.
(7) #2: The floral bract has become parthenocarpic: Parthenocarpic fruits
develop without fertilization and have no seeds. Except for
transmutation and turning lead into gold, there has been more nonsense
written about seedless marijuana than on any other subject. In
marijuana parthenocarpy, the floral bract (the fruit) enlarges in size as
though there were a seed growing inside, and the capitate-stalked glandular
trichome is triggered into growth on the floral bract and concomitant
leaves. "Most popular supermarket tomatoes are parthenocarpic which
was induced artificially by the application of dilute hormone sprays (such
as auxins) to the flowers." In a trial, marijuana parthenocarpy was
not induced by the application of the spray used on tomatoes. Only the
photoperiod(c) will trigger parthenocarpy in flowering female marijuana
plants. Marijuana parthenocarpy occurring before the autumnal equinox
is considered by the author to be "long-day" and marijuana parthenocarpy
occurring after the autumnal equinox to be "short-day".
The longest photoperiod that will trigger parthenocarpy in unfertilized
flowering homozygous(d) Indica female marijuana plants is 13:00 hours, give
or take 15 minutes. This effect can be obtained in the month of August
at N35Lat, and because the capitate-stalked glandular trichomes received
plenty of UVB during this month at this latitude, the harvested resin
spheres had fully realized THC. Rating: euphoria and hallucinations,
major appetite boost and pain relief, deep dreamless sleep. These
plants seldom grow taller than four feet but potency makes up for the
reduced harvest.
The gene pool is heterozygous if a flowering female marijuana plant is
not parthenocarpic by the end of the first week in September in the Northern
Hemisphere. If this is the case, pollination is used instead of
parthenocarpy to trigger the growth of the capitate-stalked glandular
trichome before the autumnal equinox to obtain as much fully realized THC as
possible in the harvested resin spheres by the time the majority of the
seeds are ripe.
The longest photoperiod that will trigger parthenocarpy in unfertilized
flowering heterozygous female marijuana plants is 11:00 hours, give or take
15 minutes: This effect can be obtained in the month of November at N35Lat.
Because of the low intensity of UVB radiation at this latitude at sea level
during November, the harvested resin spheres evidenced only slightly more
THC than precursor compounds. Rating: mild to medium euphoria,
appetite boost and pain relief, good snooze.
Thai marijuana falls into this 11:00 hour
category, and its parthenocarpy is characterized by an inflorescence in
which many floral bracts are attached to an elongated meristem. It is
these elongated meristems that are harvested to become a THAI STICK.
On the other side of the world, Mexican marijuana grown around the same
latitudes (Michoacan, Guerrero, Oaxaca) also falls into this short-day
parthenocarpic category and the unfertilized marijuana will become
"sensimilla" in the 11:00 hour photoperiod which begins in mid-December in
that region. The winter sunshine in those latitudes has enough UVB
intensity to produce fully realized THC--unlike the winter sunshine at
N35Lat.
All unfertilized flowering female marijuana plants will become
parthenocarpic in a 9:00 hour photoperiod (15:00 hour dark period): This can
be obtained in the month of December at N35Lat. At this latitude in
this month there is not even enough UVB in sunlight for precursor vitamin D3
to develop in human skin. The phytochemical process will not produce
fully realized THC when UVB falls below a certain level of intensity
expressed in µW/cm2. Rating: no effect.
(a)In the Northern Hemisphere above the Tropic of Cancer, the key to
all marijuana potency is this: The more days of sunlight the
capitate-stalked glandular trichomes' resin spheres accumulate before the
autumnal equinox the more fully realized THC.
(b)It is recognized in the indigenous world that drug-type marijuana
with a majority of ripe seeds will produce more euphoria, hallucinations,
appetite stimulation, pain relief, and sleep aid than with a majority of
unripe seeds.
(c)The photoperiodic response is controlled by phytochrome.
"Phytochrome is a blue pigment in the leaves and seeds of plants and is
found in 2 forms. One form is a blue form(Pfr), which absorbs red
light, and the other is a blue-green form(Pr) that absorbs far-red light.
Solar energy has 10X more red (660nm) than far-red (730nm) light causing the
accumulation of Pfr." The first and last hour of a day's sunlight is
mostly red light because of the scattering effect on blue light. "So
at the onset of the dark period much of the phytochrome is in the Pfr form.
However, Pfr is unstable and returns to phytochrome Pr in the dark."
The red light in sunrise returns the Pr to the Pfr form. "Phytochrome
Pfr is the active form and controls flowering and germination. It
inhibits flowering of short-day plants (the long night period is required
for the conversion of Pfr to Pr) and promotes flowering of long day plants."
(d)In Nepal and nearby areas of India where the capitate-stalked
glandular trichome is triggered into growth by parthenocarpy rather than by
fertilized ovum, great care is taken to make sure that all male marijuana
plants are destroyed as soon as they reveal their sex. This is because
unfertilized Indica flowering females can have both stigma and anther
protruding from the floral bract. In the Indica gene pool,
female-produced pollen carries an allele for long-day parthenocarpy, and
seeds resulting from this female-produced pollen will produce another
generation of female plants that will also exhibit long-day parthenocarpy
during flowering. But if pollen from male plants is introduced into
this gene pool, the resulting seeds will produce a generation of females
that will exhibit short-day parthenocarpy instead. The allele for
long-day parthenocarpy in the female-produced pollen is carried into the
gene pool by self-pollination and cross-pollination, and perhaps homozygous
is used too loosely here to describe the genetic result.
(8) It appears that the resin sphere acts as an UVB receptor and magnifying
lens. The latter apparently lets it gather in a lot more photons than would
otherwise be possible; because a lens also acts as a prism, the resin sphere
may prevent some wavelengths from being focused where the phytochemical
processes are taking place because they could interfere with the
phytochemical process that makes THC.
electrostatic collection of resin spheres and non-glandular trichome
-------illuminated with 100 watt light bulb------- ---illuminated with sunlight---
© 2002 jknuc rev. April 2004
Bibliography - marijuana-optics.greatnow.com/
