Kimber Wise, Jamie Selby‐Pham
Cannabis ( C. sativa ) flowers are utilised therapeutically and recreationally, and their volatile profiles are an important quality attribute that shapes the user's sensory (odour) experience. One strategy to modulate cannabis volatiles is through the supplementation of fertiliser solutions with biostimulants, which are known to stimulate secondary metabolism by inducing stress mechanisms. This study explored the potential of two carbohydrate‐based biostimulants, molasses and galactooligosaccharides (GOS), for their capacities to impact cannabis flower volatiles and associated odour. Application of these biostimulants within hydroponic growth systems resulted in changes (with significance or marginal significance) to six volatiles from the GOS treatment, and three volatiles from the molasses treatment. Modified vector modelling (MVM) was then utilised to predict associated impacts to the sensory profile, wherein GOS was predicted to impact six odour descriptors (ODs), while molasses odour was predicted to be unchanged. Based on associations of the GOS odour changes to consumer quality assessments, these changes were expected to increase quality perceptions, by reducing negatively perceived odours. Accordingly, the results herein indicate that GOS, but not molasses, may provide cannabis cultivators with a strategy to enhance the value of flowers via modulation of volatile‐driven sensory profiles.