Get to Know a Cannabis Terpene: Eucalyptol
Eucalyptol has a variety of useful effects — in addition to its memorable smell.
If you made the assumption that eucalyptol, also known as cineol, is found in eucalyptus oil, you made the right assumption. Eucalyptol can be up to 90% of the oil! Spicy, mint-like, and cooling, eucalyptol’s memorable scent is familiar to anyone who has used Vicks Vapo Rub or a variety of other products. French chemist François Stanislas Cloez isolated and named eucalyptol in 1870, and another species of eucalyptus, E. cloeziana, was named for him.
Eucalyptus isn’t the only place that eucalyptol is found — and you’ll encounter this terpene quite a bit during the winter holidays as its featured in many spices. Its flavor means that its been used as a flavoring agent in a large variety of products, but only in small doses — eucalyptol in large doses is toxic. In fact, in 1981 M. Verma and C. E. Meloan determined that the eucalyptol (also known as cineole) in bay leaves could be an effective cockroach repellent.
Meloan was inspired to try to isolate the chemical responsible after hearing that bay leaves and sliced cucumbers would keep cockroaches at bay. As science can go, there were some stumbling blocks along the way. One of the first ones was attracting cockroaches to begin with — you can’t drive away a roach that isn’t there. Then, another when when it was found that just putting cucumbers in cabinets didn’t work to ward off the cockroaches, until they realized that slicing, cutting, or crushing would release the chemical.
General Uses
Eucalyptol is used in oral hygeine products for its antiseptic and antibacterial properties. It’s also used in topical products such as lotions for its anti-inflammatory effects. Of course, its also used in insecticides.
The patent office lists thousands of entries including eucalyptol. There are, of course, cannabis strains that contain it.
There is also a sanitizing liquid for food contact surfaces, which makes a lot of sense since small amounts of eucalyptol are edible. Eucalyptol is also contained in a treatment for antibiotic resistant acne. There’s a water-soluble cannabinoid extract that contains eucalyptol. Eucalyptol is mentioned as a possible antimicrobial agent that could be used in conjunction with a nanobubble stabilizer. And of course, it’s included in oral care products.
Medical Uses
Topically, eucalyptus was found to help reduce scalp scaliness and other effects of scalp dermititis. Patients with bronchitis showed significant improvement after exposure / use of eucalyptol (cineol).
Eucalyptol helped relieve symptoms in patients with acute non-purulent rhinosinusitis.
Eucalyptol was identified as an extremely effective anti-microbial / anti-bacterial.
In Cannabis
Girl Scout Cookies, and Super Silver Haze often contain Eucalyptol. As with other terpenes, it’s best to ensure you have a full terpene analysis for the farm / strain combination that you have to ensure that you’ll be encountering this terpene.
Other Info
Boiling Point: 350°F
Other Sources: eucalyptus, bay leaf, cardamom, rosemary, sage, allspice, basil, bergamot, calamus, cassia bark, brazillian cherry leaf, cinnamon, clary sage, cumin, dill, horsemint, laurel leaf, lavender, lemongrass, mandarin, marjoram, oregano, black pepper, pine, thyme, watermelon, wormwood, yarrow, ylang ylang, yuzu peel.
Scents: camphoraceous, cooling, minty, herbal, fresh
Flavors: minty, camphoraceous, medicinal
Article Sources:
https://go.drugbank.com/drugs/DB03852
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Eucalyptol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptol
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/molecule-of-the-week/archive/e/eucalyptol.html
https://www.perfumersworld.com/view.php?pro_id=3BH00181
www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1056361.html
Originally published at https://oregoncannabisgazette.com.