Wash Color Variance

Have you ever seen videos of hash washing and wondered why sometimes the water turns green and other times it’s gold or brown or purple like wine? The answer to this question requires a dive into various parts of the plant and what the water is telling us about it. Let’s go by color. If your wash water is turning green, it’s likely you’re doing something wrong. Unless you’re washing a cultivar like Sour Apple which does turn water green, it’s more likely that your wash water is too warm or you are treating the plant too roughly in the wash, breaking it down and releasing chlorophyll. If this is happening to you, consider using cold water with gentle agitation. Next, if your wash is turning brown and sooty? That’s likely dirt particles, which can happen frequently in outdoor grown plants, and means that you need to do a pre-wash to remove this dirt before you run the plants through a full wash. What about the gold or white colored wash water? That is usually due to there being lots of white or amber colored trichomes heads washing off into the water. Never a bad sign when you see that. Finally, there are those special purp washes which can turn the wash water into almost a burgundy red wine color. This is caused by a color pigment known as Anthocyanins. This pigment is what makes cannabis different shades from red to purple to blue to almost black. Unlike Chlorophyll and other pigment types, Anthocyanins are water soluble which means that they actually do change the color of the water. Anthocyanins are also responsible for the color of red wines and have been shown to interact with the endocannabinoid system. According to a study published in Food and Nutrition Research, “Anthocyanins possess antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anti-obesity effects, as well as prevention of cardiovascular diseases.” What effect does this have on your experience? More research is needed, but what is clear is that the colors you see in a wash can help tell the story of the plant itself.

We mentioned that seeing green in the water is a likely sign that there are issues with your wash, and this is due to seeing Chlorophyll, which is just one of many pigments - or compounds that give plants their color and are instrumental in their growth and development. The most common type of pigment is that green chlorophyll and its most important function from the plant’s perspective is assisting in the process of photosynthesis, that being how plants convert sunlight into energy to grow. Chlorophyll is not water soluble, however, so when it comes off in the wash, that means the plant is being broken down by warm water or overly rough agitation. Similarly, Carotenoids are another pigment type that is not water soluble and are responsible for the oranges, yellows, reds, and some pinks you see on cannabis and other plants. They are known to have anti-inflammatory and immunity boosting properties as well when consumed. Finally, we have Anthocyanins which produce those blue, purple, black colors and are a type of Flavonoid pigment. There are hundreds of Flavonoids and Anthocyanins are simply one of the most well known. They are widely reported to provide numerous ancillary health benefits and are also water soluble. Found in many plants and fruits and vegetables, flavonoids directly interact with your endocannabinoid system and more research is needed to understand exactly how they benefit the human body or impact the experience in cannabis.

In addition to their incredible medicinal potential, Anthocyanins are also helpful to cultivators and growers as a pH indicator for the plant. This is due to the way Anthocyanins change color based on the pH of the plant. The pH of something is a number on a 0-14 scale that signifies the acidic or alkaline quality of something, with 0 being the most acidic and 14 being the most alkaline. For example, stomach acid has a pH of 1, water has a pH of 7, and something like bleach has a pH of 12. While there are a number of factors including light and temperature, Anthocyanin tends to display as purple at more neutral pH levels or slightly blue or black at higher pH levels. This can be a helpful marker to cultivators throughout the growing process if they have controlled for all other factors.

You may also be wondering, what is the purpose of plants having all these pigments? Besides Chlorophyll, what benefit do they bring to plants? Carotenoids and Flavonoids like Anthocyanin provide protection from damage by UV rays and their colors traditionally help attract pollinators like bees to help them reproduce. While cannabis is primarily pollinated through wind, it still produces these beautiful colors for all of us to enjoy.