A chemovar (chemical variety) is a cultivar characterised by its chemistry: its cannabinoid ratio and its dominant terpenes. The term is used by researchers and some regulators who want a label that means something measurable, instead of a market strain name.
In practice
The push for chemovars comes from the evidence that strain names and indica/sativa labels are poor guides. Large datasets of lab results show that commercial cannabis falls into a few chemical clusters, and that the label on the jar often does not match its cluster (Smith et al. 2022). Describing a product as "THC-dominant, high myrcene and beta-caryophyllene" tells a buyer more than a name.
For a breeder, describing a selection as a chemovar means reporting a lab profile with the clone: total cannabinoids, major terpenes and their percentages, grown and tested more than once. Chemistry shifts with environment, harvest timing and drying, so one test is a snapshot.
Don't confuse with
- Chemotype: a broad class (I to V); a chemovar is a specific cultivar within that class.
- Strain: a name that may or may not match the chemistry.
- Cultivar: the formal term for a cultivated variety selected for any trait; a chemovar is one defined by chemistry.
Myth check
Indica/sativa does not predict chemistry or effect; see indica, sativa and ruderalis.
The chemotype ratio is the balance of a plant's main cannabinoids, usually THC to CBD, classing plants as type I (THC-dominant), II (mixed), III (CBD-dominant), IV (CBG) or V (near-zero).A dominant allele is one whose effect shows in the phenotype even when only one copy is present, masking the other (recessive) allele at that locus.Terpenes are volatile hydrocarbon compounds built from five-carbon isoprene units; in cannabis they are made in the trichome heads and are a major part of aroma and flavour.Myrcene (beta-myrcene) is a monoterpene with a musky, earthy, ripe-fruit aroma and is the most common dominant terpene in commercial cannabis flower.Beta-caryophyllene is a spicy, peppery sesquiterpene common in cannabis, notable as a dietary terpene that also binds the CB2 receptor in laboratory studies.Total cannabinoids is the sum of all cannabinoids a lab measured in a sample, usually reported in % w/w, with acid forms either summed raw or decarboxylation-adjusted.The span of days, often one to two weeks, in which a cannabis plant is ripe enough to cut, judged mainly by trichome head colour and bud development.A chemotype is a plant's chemical phenotype, in cannabis usually its dominant cannabinoid class: THC-dominant (I), mixed (II), CBD-dominant (III), CBG-dominant (IV) or cannabinoid-free (V).A cultivar (cultivated variety) is a group of cultivated plants selected for distinct, uniform and stable traits that are kept when propagated, by seed or by cuttings.Strain is the popular word for a named cannabis variety; it is used loosely, and studies show strain names are an unreliable guide to genetics or chemistry.The phenotype is what a plant visibly and measurably is (shape, colour, smell, chemistry, timing), the result of its genotype acting in a particular environment.
