Terpenes can be found in fruits, plants and common legal herbs. They are mostly responsible for the aroma, flavor, and fragrance of various living things. These aromas create the distinctive scent of many plants, such as cannabis, pine, and lavender, as well as fresh orange peel.
Terpenes may also play a key role in differentiating the effects of various cannabis strains – challenging standard beliefs held about indica vs sativa strains. As more studies are conducted to understand how and to what extent, researchers are becoming more accurate at describing, as well as predicting how terpenes in all living things can be used for medicinal applications to aide in treating specific medical conditions.
Actively stimulating serotonin inhibitors, terpenes enhance dopamine activity in your brain. Over 100 different terpenes have been identified in the cannabis plant, and every strain tends toward a unique terpene type and composition. In other words, a strain like Cheese and its descendants will likely have a discernible cheese-like smell, and Blueberry offspring often inherit the smell of berries.
Many terpenes are bioactive, meaning they may target areas of the body. This effect will vary based on the concentration of the terpene itself, combination of other terpenes and cannabinoids, as well as how a person uses it. Some people believe that terpenes raise the intensity of how high a person gets from using cannabis. So say this is the entourage effect which implies that terpenes enhance or influence the effects of THC and CBD in the body.