Terpenes on Product Pages: What the Producer States and What Cannot Be Compared

Product pages increasingly list terpenes: myrcene, limonene, caryophyllene. Terpenes are aromatic compounds present in many plants, and on product pages they serve as a description of aroma and aromatic composition.

We checked how many entries in our product overview have such data and how reliably they can be compared. This text does not assess the significance of terpenes for therapy: it is solely about how to read data from labels.

So for two thirds of entries the page does list terpenes, but only for one in ten does it state how much of them there is. The rest is just a list of names.

Of the 93 entries with a list of terpenes, the data comes from pharmacy pages 79 times (a description passed on by the producer or distributor), from strain databases 10 times and from producer materials 4 times. Pharmacy pages do not always distinguish strains: in four cases the description at the pharmacy is shared for the product (e.g. Aurora THC 22% and 20%), not for a specific strain, so we do not enter strain-specific percentages from it.

Among the 93 entries with a list, the most common are: caryophyllene (83 times), limonene (82), myrcene (64), humulene (38), linalool (37) and pinene (35). Among the 15 entries with percentages, the first in order (that is, the one with the largest share) is myrcene in six, limonene in four, caryophyllene in three and nerolidol in two.

In each of these 15 pages the values are given in descending order, so the first terpene on the list is the one with the largest share.

The glossary describes only the scent commonly attributed to a given substance and the places where it occurs in other plants:

Why do 54 entries have no terpene data?

Because neither the pharmacy page nor the producer's material gives them. We do not fill in data from guesses or from other strains.

Are terpenes the same as THC and CBD?

No. THC and CBD are cannabinoids, and terpenes are a separate group of compounds. The cannabinoid content is given by the product name (more in the article on how to read it).

Where can I see the terpenes of a specific strain?

In the product overview, for each entry with data we show the terpenes together with the source and verification date.

This text is informational: it collects publicly available data from producers, distributors and pharmacies. It does not describe effects or indications, is not an advertisement or a recommendation, and the choice of product and dosage is always decided by the doctor.