Pinene

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Introduction

Pinene is the terpene that gives pine and turpentine their characteristic taste/smell but it can also be found in many cannabis strains. Preclinical research indicates that pinene can be therapeutic in many diseases. However, it must be noted that pinene is only present in trace amounts (0.01-1%) in cannabis flowers which may not be enough to exert therapeutic effects on its own. Still pinene may prove to be of therapeutic value at higher concentrations (extracts) or in combination with other cannabinoids and terpenes found in cannabis.

Chemical Name

(1S,5S)-2,6,6-trimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]hept-2-ene (1S,5S)-6,6-dimethyl-2-methylenebicyclo[3.1.1]heptane

Wikipedia Entry

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Diseases

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Literature Discussion

Preclinical research has shown pinene to be therapeutic in the following diseases:

  • Anti-hypernociceptive (Quintão et al., 2010)
  • Mosquito larvicidal (Govindarajan et al., 2016a)(Govindarajan et al., 2016b)

 

 

References:

Govindarajan, M., Rajeswary, M., and Benelli, G. (2016a). Chemical composition, toxicity and non-target effects of Pinus kesiya essential oil: An eco-friendly and novel larvicide against Malaria, dengue and lymphatic filariasis mosquito vectors. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 129, 85–90.

Govindarajan, M., Rajeswary, M., Hoti, S.L., Bhattacharyya, A., and Benelli, G. (2016b). Eugenol, α-pinene and β-caryophyllene from Plectranthus barbatus essential oil as eco-friendly larvicides against Malaria, dengue and Japanese encephalitis mosquito vectors. Parasitol. Res. 115, 807–815.

Quintão, N.L., da Silva, G.F., Antonialli, C.S., Rocha, L.W., Cechinel Filho, V., and Cicció, J.F. (2010). Chemical composition and evaluation of the anti-hypernociceptive effect of the essential oil extracted from the leaves of Ugni myricoides on inflammatory and neuropathic models of pain in mice. Planta Med. 76, 1411–1418.