America’s Got Terpenes—Pinene Takes the Stage
Terpenes—these odoriferous molecules give cannabis its distinctive flavors like pine, citrus, and berry—and they’re the new ‘it’ thing for connoisseurs across America. Produced alongside cannabinoids like THC and CBD, these talented compounds do a lot more than smell good. They provide a unique array of therapeutic effects. They can reduce tumors, eliminate anxiety, and even fight acne.
Cannabis produces over 200 different terpenes, and of those, 6 top the list as the most beneficial—and flavorful—of them all: myrcene, limonene, humuline, linalool, caryophyllene, and pinene. In this post, we’ll focus on pinene, a particularly pungent terpene that can open your lungs, lift your spirits, and whisk your senses away to the forest.
Pinene has a strong—you guessed it—pine flavor, and shows up in strains like Jack Herer, Blue Dream, and Chem Dawg. Like most terpenes pinene exists throughout the plant world. In fact, it’s the most abundant terpene in nature—found in pine needles, citrus, sage, and rosemary, to name a few. Interestingly, many of the plants that share this terpene also share some similar medicinal qualities.
Here’s the low-down on pinene—its qualities, uses, and where you can find it:
Pinene
Flavors/Scents: Pine, Rosemary, Basil, Hops
Strains: Jack Herer, Chem Dawg, Bubba Kush, Super Silver Haze, Trainwreck, Romulan, Dutch Treat, Blue Dream, OG Kush.
Therapeutic Effects:
• Increases energy and improves mental focus and memory. Good for depression and chronic fatigue syndrome. Study
• Acts as a bronchodilator (opens the airways), making it useful for people with asthma and other respiratory ailments. Study
• Anti-Cancer. Pinene slows tumor growth and decreases the spread of cancerous cells. A study from The School of Basic Medicine in China considers it a potential anti-tumor drug.
• Anti-inflammatory, useful in the treatment of acute pancreatitis, and osteoarthritis.
• Anti-microbial. Studies have shown pinene to be highly effective against diseases like infectious endocarditis, infectious bronchitis, and others. Study
Thanks to legalization (25 states with medical—and counting!) science is looking more and more at cannabis and its astonishing potential to help people. And we’ll be watching for new discoveries as they happen. For now, stay tuned. Because next time on America’s Got Terpenes, we’ll introduce you to linalool—a calming terpene that’s also found in lavender and rosewood.
For more information on terpenes and strains that could be particularly helpful for you, come into either of our locations—Iron St. or North Bellingham, and talk to one of our budtenders. They’re knowledgeable, discreet, and more than happy to point you in the right direction.
Disclaimer: With the exception of using pinene to improve mood and open airways (both centuries-old folk remedies)—consuming recreational cannabis won’t guarantee any of the results mentioned in this post, which were all achieved in laboratories under controlled conditions. If you have any of the serious health issues mentioned above, do yourself a favor and talk to your doctor about treatment options.
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