What is live resin, exactly?
Basically, live resin is a cannabis concentrate extracted from freshly harvested marijuana plant material that’s been flash-frozen (or fresh frozen) at sublevel temperatures, blasted with solvents like butane, propane, or butane hash oil (BHO), and pressed.
This unique extraction technique is exactly what makes this concentrate so valued. It allows the curing and drying steps to be skipped. Instead, the fresh or “live” plant is frozen soon after the harvesting. This explains why certain cannabis products you may have seen in the market are categorized as “live.”
So, how could this be beneficial for you?
The cannabis plant can go through a huge variety of processes before it becomes the product you can see on the shelf at your local dispensary. These can include the process of trimming, curing, drying and extraction among others that are used to preserve or prepare the final product. During these the natural terpene profile of marijuana is damaged and as a result almost 55% of terpenes and other natural plant compounds are usually lost.
The unique extraction process used to obtain live resin allows its terpene profile to stay as close to the natural fresh plant as possible, typically making it richer in aroma and flavor.
What do terpenes have to do with live resin?
The answer: pretty much everything.
Terpenes are natural compounds found in cannabis that are responsible for its unique smell. There are two main groups of these compounds in marijuana: monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes.
Monoterpenes have smaller molecules and are responsible for lighter and fresher aromas. These include terpenes like myrcene, limonene, terpinolene and linalool.
Sesquiterpenes have larger molecules and give cannabis its heavier aromatic undertones. Examples of these are caryophyllene and humulene.
A fresh marijuana plant has higher amounts of monoterpenes compared to sesquiterpenes. During the curing process, monoterpenes are first to evaporate due to their smaller size, and the terpene profile of the final product is usually richer in sesquiterpenes.
Products like live resin are 2% richer in monoterpenes according to High Times, and as a result, they have a fresher aroma than products that have gone through the curing process. According to the same research, “live resin contains 11% less sesquiterpenes by weight than non-live resin.”
