Flower Beta-Irradiated or Gamma-Irradiated?

[Tommo]

so which is the lesser of the two evils, is it true beta has less effect on terpene than gamma?

 

[Muiredach]

The general consensus is that beta-irradiation has less of an effect on terpenes than gamma-irradiation, but I'm yet to see a dedicated paper/study conclusively proving that. There's also the fact that the exact 'dose' of irradiation goes unpublicised in almost all cases (though occasionally it's noted on COAs.)

In regards to gamma-irradiation specifically look here:

Evaluating the Effects of Gamma-Irradiation for Decontamination of Medicinal Cannabis - PubMed

In several countries with a National medicinal cannabis program, pharmaceutical regulations specify that herbal cannabis products must adhere to strict safety standards regarding microbial contamination. Treatment by gamma irradiation currently seems the only method available to meet these...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[GrownHealth]

Little YouTube video from on Irradation MedCannaBliss.

 

[Littlegreenbag]

I’ve stuck to non irradiated except for the farm gas, which was disappointing.

Am I missing out on great strains?

 

[GrownHealth]

I’ve stuck to non irradiated except for the farm gas, which was disappointing.

Am I missing out on great strains?

Welcome @Littlegreenbag and I would suggest you are missing out as some of these new strains to medical are beta irradiated and I find them as good as non irradiated alternatives and better in some cases and even some gamma irradiated now are a massive improvement on the past so it seems that they may be taking more care during the irradiation process and I would say don't let it put you off and some of the most favoured strains between members here have been irradiated .

 

[Muiredach]

I’ve stuck to non irradiated except for the farm gas, which was disappointing.

Am I missing out on great strains?

I'd say so, the thing which many don't realise is that medication labelled as 'non-irradiated' may have undergone different 'post-harvest remediation' techniques to lower the bioburden/microbial potential - and these almost always go undeclared/unreported.

The other major factor to consider is the amount of irradiation applied between brands can vary drastically, by over 10 fold. Unfortunately there's very little information provided by the majority of brands to better document this for patients. From memory only 10-15 times in the past 3 years have we seen COAs which list more detail about the irradiation protocol, with exact figures in megajoules of energy and duration.

From subjective personal experience, some of the worst strains I've received have been supposedly non-irradiated, yet some of the best have been beta-irradiated, and even a select few gamma-irradiated.

Overall, it's probably more important to look out for patient reviews/feedback/videos than just looking at whether something is irradiated or not.

 

[Littlegreenbag]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the detailed replies. I’ve been lurking a few months on this forum. Amazing site and forum

 

[GrownHealth]

Appreciated and feel free to join in as you probably have the feel of the forum now if you've been watching in and the place just gets bigger and better as the community grows and the site develops further .