If you’ve ever cleaned paint brushes from oil-based paints using turpentine, the strong fragrance of the solvent is because of turpentine’s terpene content derived from the sap of pine trees. Terpenes are aromatic metabolites found in the oils of all plants. In fact, scientists originally developed the name terpene from turpentine.
Almost without exception, when a plant produces a scent, that odor comes from the terpenes present in the plant. And terpenes can exist anywhere in the plant: leaves, stems, bark, roots, and flowers, most especially.
Similar to fauna, flora utilizes scent to attract mates or ward off predators which is why some terpenes can sometimes be so potently or almost aggressively pungent.
Partake of the mystique of quantum energetic formulated plant-based skincare for your exalted natural bxeauty and well-being. Subscribe for a discount promo code, plus get truly unique holistic beauty tips and offers.
Terpenes aren’t only responsible for scent. They create flavor, too. The fragrance and flavor carrying terpene is carried in plant structures called trichomes—tiny scent=bearing hairs, outgrowths or appendages on aromatic plants. Glandular trichomes store and secrete terpenes on the plant’s surface as a first line of defense agains insects, pathogens and herbivores.
Any substance containing plants in any form will contain terpenes. In our previous blog, The Terpene: Most Fundamental Fragrance, Flavor and Healing Component of Essential Oils, we discussed how terpenes abound in essential oils. And by virtue of that fact, terpenes are plentiful in all PHYTO5 skin and hair care.
Our seven chakra oil blends are also rich in terpenes. Each one of these blends are composed of several essential oils which lend qualities and actions specific to the chakra for which it is formulated. (Read more about chakras in our article, 13 Tips for Balancing Your Chakras.)
Since March is the month of Spring and all things green and because the heart chakra (energy center/vortex) emits green light, let’s look at the terpenes found in our Heart Chakra Balancing Essential Oil Blend. Each terpene noted below is responsible for many health benefits however since the chakra oils are synergistically formulated more for etheric/spiritual upliftment, there is no point in listing the physical health benefits in this article. Nevertheless, we have indicated some very interesting facts about many of the oils’ terpenes in the paragraphs below. (Health benefits can be easily found online.)
Rose essential oil: citronellal, geraniol, and nerol. (Geraniol lends a fresh, natural scent.)
Neroli essential oil: linalool, limonene, farnesol, geraniol and citral. (Farnesol is believed to provide an anti-aging effect. Read about the related topic of Nutrigenomics and Xenohormesis here to understand how this might be possible.)
Melissa essential oil: citronellal, citral, and geraniol. (Citral is a main component of citrus fruit's peel oil. It is especially found in orange peel and is actually a mixture of neral and geranial.)
Lavender essential oil: linalool, also found in birch and jasmine, linalool is responsible for lavender’s sedative effect.
Blue Tansy essential oil (aka Moroccan blue chamomile): pinene, chamzulene (responsible for dark blue pigment)
Terpene Tips
You can mentally escape to the woods with a whiff of borneol. Borneol has a pine woody camphor balsamic fragrance with a slightly sharp, earthy-peppery note. It is often used in perfumery.
If you have a citrus craving, you might satisfy it with a whiff of linalool. Linalool has complex odor and flavor properties. Its odor is similar to floral, spicy wood and somewhat resembles French lavender plants, bergamot oil or lily of the valley. It has a light, citrus-like flavor, sweet with a spicy tropical accent.
You can refresh your tastebuds with a tiny hit of pulegone. Pulegone is a clear colorless oily liquid with a pleasant odor similar to pennyroyal, peppermint and camphor. It’s used in flavoring agents, in perfumery, and in aromatherapy.
Terpenes and THC* (tetrahydrocannabinol) are complements to each other. Terpenes affect our endocannabinoid system just as much as THC and CBD (cannabidiol). In fact, terpenes interact synergistically with THC to affect the psychoactive area of the brain as well as the blood-brain barrier that moderates chemical outputs.
Find a plant strain with high levels of caryophyllene for anti-inflammatory and arthritis relief.
Consider taking in the fragrance of linalool if your skin is breaking out.
Reach for limonene if you're feeling blue.
More than 30,000 terpenes are believed to exist on this planet.
The Terpene Wheel—a multi-colored infographic—allows us to reference which terpenes are contributing to the unique aroma and/or flavor of our edibles or essential oil. The graphic wheel lists:
every common terpene;
in what plants each terpene can be found;
whether the terpene is herbal, flowery or fruity; and
whether the terpene is spicy, sweet, earthy or sour.
Pinene is probably the most utilized terpene in traditional Chinese medicine because of its anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anticancer and “antibiotic” abilities.
Alpha-pinene, abundant in pine needles, is alerting.
Limonene found in lemons is, of course, sunshiney.
Beta-myrcene, found in hops (cumulus) is sedating.
…
Endnotes:
* THC (tetrahydrocannabinol): a crystalline compound that is the main active ingredient of cannabis
Sources:
Wilson, Cathy. Terpenes, The Healing Connection Between Essential Oils and Cannabis. N.p., CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017.
Image courtesy of Maksym Golovinov from Getty Images via Canva
