I am from Kogi state, and I speak Yoruba very well and that's because in my town we speak Yoruba and are Yoruba descendants but in Nigeria our official language is English. Asides from Mandarin which is the most spoken language, English which is the most spread language, french one of the most sort after to learn language, and Spanish one language I enjoy how it is being spoken. There is a language that isn't spoken, isn't heard or seen but yet spoken by organisms that you wouldn't expect to interact with one another.
Like I mentioned, this language isn't spoken or listened to, rather it is smelled. It is a class of chemical compounds organisms of same or different species use in communicating which is made up of multiple subunits of organic molecules which are referred to as Isoprene and this language is known as Terpenes.
Isoprene are subunit molecules with 5 carbons which can be arranged either in chains, ring or both giving rise to over 30,000 compound. Its diverse label allows it to have numerous functions biologically including serving as a source of scent in plants including cannabis. It is the chemical that gives different scents to different cannabis strains, scents of trees like Fir trees, and flowers like Peppermint. Terpenes evaporate easily helping with communication which can be within the same species known as Pheromone. A popular pheromone in animal is Androstenol which is found in male Pigs and they use this to call the attention of females in the area that there is a male around for mating. While same species uses phoromone to communicate with themselves, other types of terpenes can be used to communicate between different species for instance flowers that needs to pollinate use terpenes to attract pollinators to pollinate them. https://organicmonk.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Cannabis-in-Cosmetics-1200x675.webp Just like Plant species can use terpenes to attract animals or insects to themselves for the purpose of pollination, they can also use it to repel animals from them and such is Catnip which is an insect repelling terpenes but attracts cats to it. If you notice that after cutting grasses, there is always a strong scent in the air which is suppose to invite predators that feed on insects and caterpillar because the plant has been wounded and its natural response is to invite a predator to kill the caterpillar that just wounded it. Plants also release terpenes to inform other plants that there is danger and they should save themselves. A good example of a plant that releases terpenes for warning purpose is the Lima Bean Leaves and it does so when being attacked by spider mites. Plants release terpenes that have effects on us, such as Myrcene which is a monoterpene which gives the relaxation and sleepy feeling, Beta-caryophyllene which helps in relieving stress, Limonene which lifts mood, Pinene improves alertness and so on. While some organisms release certain types of chemical compounds, most organisms release complex mixtures of terpenes and with this mixture a lot of messages can be sent and a lot achieved but we are still learning about it and proper knowledge will help us identify where and how we can use them for our activities.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK55973/
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organicmonk
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8199371/
https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/natural-products/Cannabis-industry-crafty-terpenes/97/i29
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature03451
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2259060/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7763918/
https://www.goodrx.com/health-topic/cannabis/terpene-guide
