I gotta admit....being an old school guy, I NEVER remember hearing anything about curing weed....outside of some wild stories about people who soaked their buds in wine and then let them dry! Weed growing and smoking used to be a lot more "voodoo" and folklore back then. Everyone carried their weed around in plastic sandwich bags that we licked to seal....gross, right?
LOTS of times, shady dealers would just put freshly chopped buds into these baggies and then sell you the buds AND all the water in them (no extra charge!).
I think learning to cure buds was a good thing. It certainly helps for longer-term preservation. As far as terpene loss...yeah I suppose that's true. I never thought about it. But our good, old school weed was always tastier and smelled stronger and it was never cured. I know that. So maybe there's something to the claim that curing diminishes some the tastes and smells.
Curing actually is a moisture redistribution technique. What it does is to take unevenly, air-dried plant material and slllloooowwwwllly redistribute the remaining moisture so that it isn't crispy on the outside and wet on the inside. I think if the weed is good and the curing is done properly, then some terps will be preserved longer as a result of being "locked" into the buds.
Does anyone know when the idea of curing weed actually started?