Terpene Tuesday: Eucalyptol (Cineol)

In today’s edition of Terpene Tuesday, we are going to cover the minty terpene known as Eucalyptol! This terpene is also known as cineol, and has a ton to offer users.

While not nearly as prominent as other terpenes such as myrcene, linalool, or limonene, it still contributes to the entourage effect and has plenty of benefits of its own. Before we dive into these, let’s cover some basic information on the eucalyptol terpene.

What is eucalyptol?

Eucalyptol is the primary terpene of the Eucalyptus tree, but can also be found in tea trees, cardamom, rosemary, sage, bay leaves, and of course, cannabis.

As mentioned before, eucalyptol is not found in high concentrations in cannabis. It averages around just 0.06% of a strains terpene profile.

The eucalyptol terpene is commonly used in cosmetics for its fragrance. Another interesting use of eucalyptol is as an insect repellant since bugs cannot stand it!

What are the benefits and effects of eucalyptol?

From a therapeutic standpoint, there are plenty of benefits and effects of eucalyptol. Some of the most common medician uses of this terpene include:

Anti-inflammatory- This terpene has the ability to reduce inflammation, regardless of the root cause. It commonly is used to help treat joint pain and chronic pain associated with inflammation.

Asthma and breathing issues- Eucalyptol can help those suffering from asthma by dilating blood vessels to increase oxygen delivery. This helps open your lungs and get the necessary oxygen in there to decrease breathing problems. It can also help relieve congestion associated with colds, coughs, and the flu by loosening phlegm and ridding the body of toxic organisms.

Antibacterial- Due to its antibacterial capabilities, this terpene can be used to fight microscopic organisms that invade open wounds. On top of helping to prevent infection, it can decrease the pain of the wound.

Antioxidant- Eucalyptol has been proved to act as an antioxidant, meaning it helps neutralize radical compounds in the body and keep our systems regulated. A 2011 study published within the Journal Toxicology and Industrial Health found that this terpene has the ability to eliminate oxidative stress in a time-efficient matter.

Eucalyptol and Alzheimer’s disease

One of the more significant findings regarding the medical benefits of eucalyptol is it’s potential to help with Alzheimer’s disease. This terpene exhibits an incredible ability to improve memory and learning.

A study showed the effects of participants’ ability to perform mathematical tasks, and some were exposed to the eucalyptol terpene via aromatherapy. Researchers found that those exposed to the terpene performed exceptionally better.

On top of this, there is a belief that eucalyptol could help prevent one of the processes of Alzheimer’s disease. Beta-amyloid plaque proteins start to accumulate and block cell-to-cell signaling. Due to eucalyptol’s anti-inflammatory capabilities, there is the potential for it to prevent this.

Anticancer

In 2002, a study was conducted on human leukemia cell lines. Scientists found that this terpene was able to halt the growth of the leukemia cell lines by inducing apoptosis. This is a condition where cells die off programmatically.

This happens naturally in our body, but can be sped up with eucalyptol. When this happens in those suffering from cancer, it kills the cancer cells as well. These findings make it a candidate for more research and a possible future treatment option.

What strains are high in eucalyptol?

As you now know, this terpene is not very dominant, and it is tough to find a cannabis strain with high concentrations of it. However, here are a few we know are high in eucalyptol: