Terpene of the Month: Linalool | AusCannaReviews

This month we’re taking a deeper look at the terpene… Linalool! Although considered a minor cannabis terpene because it shows up in small amounts compared to other terpenes, it punches well above its weight.

Linalool is a mono-terpene and one of my favourites. It’s the terpene most associated with Lavender. But it can also be found in other flowers and oils such as rosewood, jasmine, rose, bergamot and linaloe seed. Linalool is also in fruits such as pineapples, plums and peaches and in herbs including spearmints, corianders, thymes, basil and oregano. Linalool can also be found in Robinia honey, coffee, tea, and hops. It’s even in chocolate!

Linalool has long-established sedative effects and has been used as an aromatherapeutic herbal pillow in folk medicine all around the world since ancient times. A study in mice about the sedative properties of the essential oils in Lavender established a correlation between the longer the mice were exposed to Linalool, the more lethargic they became.

In REM-sleep-deprived mice, Linalool improved their hippocampal-dependent learning and memory behaviours. The mice also displayed anti-depressant behaviour. These improvements in behavioural outcomes were accompanied by a reduction in cortisol levels in the Linalool-treated sleep-deprived mice compared to the controls.

Evidence suggests that Linalool may be beneficial for social anxiety. Another study based on Linalool’s effects on mice showed that simple Linalool odour exposure could induce anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) effects without motor impairment in mice. (The effects were not present in mice who had lost their sense of smell, indicating that olfactory input evoked by Linalool odour was necessary to trigger the effect.)

Linalool’s calming and sedative effects may contribute to the sought-after "relaxing" and "chill" sensations associated with Indica-dominant cannabis cultivars, making it a sought-after terpene for medicinal cannabis patients seeking relief from anxiety, stress, and sleep disorders.

If you’re looking for medicinal cultivars on the Australian market that are high in Linalool… (Information comes from COA listed on honahlee.)

1. Beacon Medical’s Cheese Quake (THC+F) (Linalool 0.60%)

2. Alfie Therapeutics’s K. Mints (Linalool 0.31%)

3. Alfie Therapeutics’s MAC-1 (Linalool 0.31%)

4. Cannatrek’s T18 Jasper Flower (Linalool 0.30%)

5. Medical Cannabis Australia’s MCA HELIO T24 (Linalool 0.28%)

6. SatiVite’s Moorok 21 LSO "Mac 1" (Linalool 0.27%)

7. Grandiosa’s Balance Dry Flower Blue Cheese (Linalool 0.24%)

8. Grandiosa’s Balance Dry Flower Kosher Kush (Linalool 0.24%)

9. SatiVite’s Kannbi 25 Live Soil Organic (Linalool 0.21%)

10. Promethean BioPharma’s Sour OG Cheese (Linalool 0.20%)