What Are Terpenes?

TERPENES

Terpenes are the aroma molecules plants use to attract, repel and protect, and cannabis makes a lot of them. Terpenes are a large family of aromatic compounds found across the plant world, from pine resin to citrus peel to lavender. Cannabis produces them in the same trichomes as cannabinoids, and they are responsible for how a given plant smells and tastes.

What a terpene is

Terpenes are volatile organic compounds built from repeating five-carbon isoprene units. They evaporate easily, which is why you can smell them, and why they are fragile. Chemically related “terpenoids” are terpenes that have been modified, but the words are often used loosely.

Where cannabis makes them

Like cannabinoids, terpenes are produced and stored in the glandular trichomes on the flower. The two are made side by side, which is why a plant’s aroma and its chemotype are linked and why aroma is a rough field cue to a plant’s character.

Why cannabis has so many

Cannabis can produce over a hundred different terpenes, though only a handful appear in large amounts. Their combination, not any single one, gives each plant its signature scent, from citrus and pine to diesel, cheese and berry.

Terpenes vs cannabinoids

Cannabinoids like THC and CBD drive the primary effects; terpenes carry the smell and flavour and may modulate the experience. The idea that the two work together is called the entourage effect.

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