A new range of CBD plants

In addition to listing THC-rich strains, the Dinafem 2016 catalogue is designed to meet the future market demand for legal plants with CBD content for both recreational and medicinal uses. In this article, Dinafem’s I+D area manager, Dr. Kush illustrates the seed bank’s new breakthroughs.

In the past, all recreational strains were high in THC, with a comparatively low or virtually inexistent CBD content, meaning that the psychoactive effects were very high. The beneficial properties of CBD were first discovered in 1981 by Dr. Mechoulam. The highest priced products on the black market are those with high psychoactive effects. For home growing, however, where production is regulated and the focus is more on public health, there is more room for other types of plants. We no longer live in a time of illegal whisky with 60% alcohol.

Times have changed and new products have entered the market, such as lemon-flavoured beer with only 2% alcohol content. Dinafem wishes to offer consumers and growers new, easier-to-use, less potent products with reduced side effects. These products may also be safer, given their neuroprotective and antipsychotic properties, which make them more effective cannabis plants for medicinal use, especially in the healthcare sector. This is underscored by the fact that they can be consumed intensively without a ‘morning-after’ effect and, for this very reason, become part of a more balanced, holistic approach to medicine that avoids the use of a single therapeutic agent. Looking ahead, given the emergence of a global market in legal and medicinal marihuana, there will be a better balance in cannabinoid content in the future, with more targeted uses.

Dinafem is thinking about boosting this product family given its future role in the cannabis scene. That is why they are now concentrating on an I+D line, where this concept has been embraced so as to offer more balanced products. Of course, the new catalogue also includes Amnesia Kush, a variety designed for THC fanatics, but the remaining items are also all high in CBD content. Among the other breakthroughs of the new 2016 Dinafem catalogue to meet the new market demand, they are also working extensively on new flavours. As Dr. Kush explained: “Our work is meant for the legal market, we are heading in a new direction. All genetics will be grown legally, in a regulated market with advanced agricultural methods through which genetics will be tested professionally”.

This new catalogue is therefore meant for growers operating in a legal market, with an exhaustive range of ratios, colours and bloom times and also a full range of cannabinoid and terpenoid profiles. Amnesia CBD, Cheese CBD and Bubba Kush CBD Two years ago, in early spring 2014, Dr. Kush visited Jimmi and Ana, two Reggae Seeds breeders. It was a fun CBD tasting day with plenty of good conversation. That evening Dr. Kush made an arrangement with them to purchase a CBD-rich genetic base to be paid not only in cash but also through recognition.

After setting up a lab expressly equipped to test these plants, a large quantity of seeds were selected in order to maximise CBD production. As Dr. Kush put it: “This was the most extensive selection ever made by us at Dinafem”. The endpoints of this trial were the production of several female champions with CBD quantities in excess of 20% and THC quantities below 1%, plus other interesting qualities, i.e. tremendous strengths, high resin quality, high yield, intense smell and purple tones. There are also a number of excellent male plants. After testing the best parents, a playoff selection took place with two finalists, a father and a mother both high in CBD. The female was crossed with elite high-yielding clones with high cannabinoid content to obtain new crossbreeds for the new season, i.e. Amnesia CBD, Cheese CBD and Bubba Kush CBD, all with more CBD than THC and a total cannabinoid content ranging from 15% to 20%. Purple Orange CBD The genetic base is Californian.

The crossing of a California Orange with a Diesel resulted in a plant with Sativa features, i.e. thin leaves and a bright colour, combined with a Diesel citric taste. For its birthplace, taste and CBD content, its genetics seem to be associated with that of the current CBD wave. When Dinafem received this genetic base, its CBD content was unknown, as the first selection was merely meant to retain an exquisite citric taste. The Ganjazz club too made its own selection. When harvests were analysed, before dispensing seeds to its partners, they discovered their high CBD content. The second selection was subsequently made from a large quantity of regular seeds. In this phase, plants were sorted based on visual inspections and lab tests.

Interestingly enough, a few individuals had a CBD:THC ratio of 3:1, i.e. three CBD parts for every THC part. At the end, a dozen champion mothers were selected, all with a high cannabinoid content. The final selection was made for the best possible performance in terms of smell, large resin and chalice quantities, and few leaves, plus a purple colour. No question about it! The selection process was extensive to achieve outstanding mothers in all respects. This selection was followed by the production of a feminised Purple Orange CBD strain, which presented various CBD:THC ratios; the most typical being 3:1, although some individuals had 2:1 or 1:1, with nearly 15% average cannabinoid content. Other distinctive characteristics included a citric Diesel taste, nice purple tones, a high yield, a satisfactory quantity of chalices and a Sativa structure.

Industrial Autoflowering CBD and Haze Autoflowering CBD

For the first time, Dinafem has included autoflowering CBD-rich plants in its catalogue. These strains are meant for inexperienced growers wishing to produce CBD-rich cannabis for medicinal or recreational uses, with moderate cannabinoid content and, therefore, a more balanced effect. Great taste was achieved both in Haze Autoflowering CBD, and Industrial Plant Autoflowering CBD, both inheriting the taste of their mothers, with no trace of typical autoflowering flavour. For their improved appearance, these products cannot be assimilated to conventional autos.

Another interesting aspect is their growth speed, with maturity reached in 70 days maximum. They have a good structure, with dense, fleshy and almost leafless buds. Critical Mass CBD, Shark Shock CBD and Moby Dick CBD These early CBD-rich plants were presented by Dinafem in several past seasons, in a project developed in association with the ‘CBD Crew’ seed bank and designed to create versions of Critical Mass, Shark Shock and Moby Dick with a more balanced effect achieved, again, by proportionately increasing the CBD quantity vs. that of THC. Tastes achieved are awesome with a clear presence of the original flavours.

Conclusions

THC-rich plants featured in seed bank catalogues are the direct consequence of cannabis prohibition. The world is however gradually moving towards legalisation, which means that more balanced strains will soon be in high demand for different uses. Of course, the new Dinafem catalogue includes a plant with a high THC content, Amnesia Kush, but also CBD-rich products (such as Amnesia CBD, Cheese CBD and Bubba Kush CBD), a plant with medium-to-high CBD content (Purple Orange CBD), and, finally, two autoflowering plants with medium CBD content (Industrial Plant Autoflowering CBD and Haze Autoflowering CBD). These products are not only meant for medicinal use but can also apply to a large number of recreational uses, with a more balanced and targeted effect to reach concentration at work or simply to enjoy its psychoactive but not devastating effect.