Cannabis Color During Cultivation; Why Some are Purple

- Why do some cannabis plants turn purple during their maturation?

If you’ve been enjoying the momentum of the cannabis industry over the past few years, you’ve likely noticed that not all cannabis products are the same. Of course, there are some you can eat, rub on your skin, or vaporize, but the differences extend beyond their method of application.

You may have noticed that many cannabis flowers are bright green. However, there are some that turn into deep shades of purple. Why do some cannabis plants turn purple and what does it mean for consumers?

Plants get their colors from a wide range of compounds. Of course, it’s common

knowledge that the green in plants comes from their chlorophyll. But chlorophyll isn’t responsible for the yellow in flowers, the red in apples, nor the purple in cannabis.

The purple that arises in some varieties of cannabis is of a flavonoid: anthocyanins. Anthocyanins aren’t unique to cannabis; they’re found in grains, fruits, vegetables, and are responsible for blue and purple tints in many of these foods. Blueberries, for example, are loaded with anthocyanins.

As your cannabis plants age, they don’t maintain the same chlorophyll structure; it

begins to breakdown. In some varieties of cannabis, anthocyanins seep it and accumulate in its place. The result is your plant that is now a lovely blue or purple color.

In nature, this compound is thought to help plants survive cold temperatures and other extreme conditions. Moreover, reports have shown that anthocyanins possess “antioxidative and antimicrobial activities, improve visual and neurological health, and protect against various non-communicable diseases.”

So, the purple color in your cannabis may also be providing you with additional health benefits. They may do so by getting involved with certain “protective effects, including free-radical scavenging pathway, cyclooxygenase pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, and inflammatory cytokines signaling.”

These natural food colorants may be protecting your plant as it grows, turning it purple, and then offering even more health benefits to the consumer. If you’re wondering why your cannabis plant is turning purple, just remember that the anthocyanins are there to serve and protect.