Last reviewed November 12, 2026
Terpinolene is a terpene with a sweet, piney smell and a somewhat sweet, citrus taste. It’s in tea tree oil, citrus oils, nutmeg, allspice and parsnip, and in cannabis it’s prominent in only a minority of samples. Studies of terpinolene on its own in people are close to absent.
| Aroma | Sweet and piney, with a citrus taste |
|---|---|
| Also found in | Tea tree oil, orange and mandarin oils, parsnip, nutmeg, allspice |
| Forms | One form; it shares its formula, C10H16, with limonene and pinene |
| Often described in cannabis as | Piney, floral, herbal, citrus |
| Everyday uses | Perfume and soap fragrance, food flavouring, solvent for resins |
What research says
As of November 12, 2026, PubMed tags three records that mention terpinolene as trials. Two gave small groups of volunteers whole essential oils in which terpinolene was one compound among many, and the third was a livestock feeding study. None tested terpinolene by itself, so none can show what it does on its own.
Terpenes don’t get you high: THC does. And no single terpene reliably predicts how a strain will feel; the whole mix of cannabinoids and terpenes, your dose and your tolerance all play a part.
Tasting terpinolene
Terpinolene boils at about 183 to 185 °C, close to limonene, so it’s part of the early, bright taste of a low-temperature dab or vape. Flavour handbooks describe it as sweet and piney on the nose, with a somewhat sweet, citrus taste.
Commercial terpinolene used to be distilled from wood turpentine. Today it’s made by treating alpha-pinene, the classic pine terpene, with phosphoric acid. In nature it turns up in a wide spread of plants, and parsnip oil is a major source at 40 to 70% terpinolene.
Why the amount varies
Terpinolene-heavy cannabis is the minority. A 2022 study of 89,923 lab-tested flower samples from six US states sorted the THC-dominant samples into three terpene groups. The high-terpinolene group was the smallest, since the other two held 87.4% of those samples, and it had about twice as many sativa-labelled products as expected. The authors still found that labels didn’t consistently match the chemistry.
The level also moves within a single variety. Across 22 plants of one hemp variety in a 2017 study, terpinolene averaged 18% of the flowers’ monoterpenes, with a standard deviation of 14 points. It reacts quickly with air as well. PubChem’s environmental data put the daylight half-life of terpinolene vapour outdoors at roughly 2 to 19 minutes, mainly from reactions with ozone. That figure is for open outdoor air, not a sealed jar.
Common questions
What does terpinolene smell like?
Sweet and piney, with a somewhat sweet, citrus taste.
Which strains are high in terpinolene?
Durban Poison is one. A large strain database lists terpinolene as its top terpene, but batches vary, and only a lab terpene report confirms the level.
Is terpinolene a sativa terpene?
In a 2022 study, terpinolene-heavy samples carried sativa labels about twice as often as expected, but labels didn’t consistently match the chemistry. A label won’t tell you how much terpinolene a strain has.
Does terpinolene get you high?
No. Terpinolene doesn’t cause a high; that comes from THC.
