We talked a little bit about cannabigerol (CBG) in one of our previous blogs, when we were comparing CBG and CBD. But since CBG is gaining a lot of popularity, we decided to investigate into this very interesting and promising cannabinoid.
Cannabinoids
Hemp has been used to treat pain since 2900 BC. Its pharmacological effects derive from a large variety of cannabinoids. Although more than 100 different cannabinoids have been isolated from cannabis plants, clear physiological effects have been determined for only a few of them, including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and CBG. While THC is an illicit drug, CBD and CBG are legal substances that have a variety of unique pharmacological properties. Over the past decade, substantial efforts have been made to develop cannabis strains that produce large amounts of CBD and CBG. Ideally, such plant varieties would have to produce very little (below 0.2%), if any, of THC to make their cultivation legal.
Cannabigerol
CBG is one of the many cannabinoid compounds found in the cannabis plant. It is formed by the decarboxylation of cannabigerolic acid, the parent molecule from which other cannabinoids are synthesized. During plant growth, most CBG is converted into other cannabinoids, mainly tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or cannabidiol (CBD), leaving about 1% CBG in the plant.