So my theory is that the "skunk funk" was bred out due to 2 things. Europeans not knowing what a skunk smells like and security concerns over the smell. I grew a cut of SK#1 that was from holland circa 88. If you cut it at 60 days it had a slightly skunky smell that was more fruity and herbal. Let it go 70 or 75 days and it was very skunky. I only let it go late a couple of times because it stank up the whole neighborhood. My odor control worked perfectly at 60 days but nothing could keep down the stank at 70 days. I have to say though real skunk is in my top 3 varieties.
your second hypothesis is the accepted reason for why it's gone, but I've never heard your first hypothesis before and that one is probably exactly why skunk#1 etc.. confuses ppl, because for decades that has been what the culture calls skunk, however us U.S based old smokers know what skunk bud is and it ain't what EU calls it that is for sure.
that all said skunk may be a bio-protectant or attractent that comes out phenotypically. it definitely is not a terpene we pretty much know that. being from the eastern U.S personally I am very familiar with skunk cabbage which skunk weed smells like and I have done some research myself after hearing kevin Jodrey talk about his skunk revival project. I will cut and paste something I wrote in another thread so I don't have to write it again. it's not thorough but it's something for anyone interested to pursue looking into as I still am
***below was copied from my post I made in another thread****
personally i think other things beyond genetics and terps play a role in the actual skunk smell us old ppl remmeber and rarely smell today. i have recently started putting more sulfur in my soil mix and teas trying to bring out more skunky and rotten profiles. i think there is something to this. it is known that sulfurs bond to terps, and it is possible it makes them smell like rotten eggs, garlic or skunk. this happens in other plants like skunk cabbage. it is very possible a mechanism like this is at play in skunked weed. i think the genetic part is a predisposition to whatever bioprotectent mechanism is causing this bonding of sulfides and creation of other compounds. you can listen to kevin jodrey talk about his skunk project for some of this info, other parts i theorized on my own after reading some books, not written by cannabis growers, on terps, esters and amines(amines include stuff like like skatole which is responsible for feces and decay smells in plants who want to attract carrions, beetles and flies)
**i'd like to note skunk cabbage emits this odor in the same manor, as a bio protectant. it does it to attract it's main pollinators to it by smelling like rotten skunk, it's pollinators include flies and stoneflies so you can imgine why the rotten smell is an advantage. so again imo it is likely skunk weed is a phenotypical expression caused by some need for a bio protectant under certain circumstances however i theorize sullfur is the ingredient needed to facilitate this when it does want to occur. so sulfur alone wont cause it but sulfur in high dosages present when it does want to do this is what conditions need to be met
** let me also add sulfur is key to wetlands and exists in high quantities and this is where skunk cabbage grows so...
***here is a research paper on skunk cabbage and it's smell***
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.841.5524&rep=rep1&type=pdf
- notice among other things that Dimethyl disulfide is in every sample but two in both male and female species of skunk cabbage. it occurs in more samples than any other compound tested, and is responsible for the creation of other smelly compounds that mimick skunks, urine, rotten meat, garlic etc.... she concludes - "S. foetidus would be dominated by a single compound, such as an oligosulfide or amine, and may contain compounds from other chemical classes. The results of this study showed the primary component of the skunk cabbage scent to be the oligosulfide, dimethyl disulfide
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But not the copper orgi. Yet.
