# Fresh frozen

> Fresh frozen is cannabis frozen immediately after harvest without drying or curing, used as starting material for live resin and live rosin to keep more volatile aroma.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/fresh-frozen.html
- Also written: fresh-frozen, FF, fresh frozen material, frozen whole plant, FFWP, fresh frozen flower
- Glossary category: Processing · Evidence: Established
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

Fresh frozen describes harvested cannabis, typically whole flowers or whole plants with large [fan leaves](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/fan-leaf.md) removed, that is frozen promptly and kept frozen until processing. Skipping the drying and curing stage preserves a larger share of the volatile [monoterpenes](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/monoterpene.md), which Ross and ElSohly (1996) showed are lost in significant amounts during air-drying. "Live" products are made from fresh frozen material.

## In practice

Fresh frozen is sold or processed by [wet weight](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/wet-weight.md), which is much heavier than [dried weight](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/dry-weight.md) because it's still mostly water; a fresh plant loses most of its mass on drying. Material must stay frozen; thawing and refreezing damages [trichome heads](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/trichome-heads.md) and invites microbial problems. For hash makers, cold makes heads brittle and easier to separate in ice water. Russo et al. (2021) examined a fresh-frozen solventless process and reported good preservation of the chemical profile. GenetixBay gives no processing procedures.

## Don't confuse with

- **Freeze-dried flower**: frozen then dried under vacuum; a different, contested curing alternative.
- **Wet trim**: trimming before drying, not freezing.
- **Cured material**: dried and [cured](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/curing.md) before processing.

## Related terms

[Live rosin](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/live-rosin.md), [Live resin](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/live-resin.md), [Bubble hash](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/bubble-hash.md), [Terpene](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/terpene.md), [Monoterpene](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/monoterpene.md)

## Read more

- [Drying cannabis: the 60/60 method and water activity](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/harvest-cure/drying.md)

## Sources

1. Russo EB, Plumb J, Whiteley VL. 2021. Novel solventless extraction technique to preserve cannabinoid and terpenoid profiles of fresh cannabis inflorescence. Molecules 26(18):5496. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26185496
2. Ross SA, ElSohly MA. 1996. The volatile oil composition of fresh and air-dried buds of Cannabis sativa. Journal of Natural Products 59(1):49-51.