Minor cannabinoids

Minor cannabinoids are the cannabinoids other than CBD and THC that occur in hemp in small amounts, typically well under one percent of the plant's dry weight.

The group includes cannabigerol, cannabichromene, cannabinol, cannabidivarin, tetrahydrocannabivarin and their acidic precursors, among more than a hundred identified compounds. Most arise from the same biochemical starting point, cannabigerolic acid, which plant enzymes convert into the acid forms of the major cannabinoids; the minors are what remains from side pathways, incomplete conversion or later chemical change, as when THC degrades into CBN with age.

Their small natural abundance means that products advertising a notable amount of a minor cannabinoid usually rely on selective breeding, targeted extraction or added isolate rather than on ordinary hemp extract. On a certificate of analysis they appear as separate lines in the cannabinoid profile, often at or near the laboratory's reporting limit. Each minor cannabinoid has its own receptor activity and has been studied mainly in cells and animals; human evidence is early and none has an approved use.