Beta-pinene is a bicyclic monoterpene with the same formula as alpha-pinene but an exocyclic double bond. It smells woody and green, more like fresh-cut herbs, rosemary or dill than like pine needles. It is found in hops, rosemary, parsley, basil and many cannabis cultivars, where it usually sits below alpha-pinene.
In practice
Lab terpene panels often report it separately at roughly 0.02-0.2% w/w in flower. Because both pinenes come from related synthase enzymes, they tend to rise and fall together across cultivars, and a "pine" chemotype usually shows both. As a monoterpene it's volatile and sensitive to drying conditions.
Don't confuse with
- Alpha-pinene: the more abundant isomer, with a sharper pine smell.
- Camphene: another bicyclic monoterpene with a camphor-pine smell, often listed nearby on panels.
- Pinene (unspecified): some labels sum both isomers; check the method.
A monoterpene is a ten-carbon terpene made from geranyl pyrophosphate, such as myrcene, limonene, pinene or terpinolene; they are the most volatile terpenes and the first lost in drying.Alpha-pinene is a bicyclic monoterpene with a sharp pine-resin aroma, the main terpene of conifer needles and a common, usually secondary, terpene in cannabis.A terpene test measures the individual terpenes and total terpene content of a sample, usually by GC-FID or GC-MS, reported in % w/w or mg/g.A chemotype is a plant's chemical phenotype, in cannabis usually its dominant cannabinoid class: THC-dominant (I), mixed (II), CBD-dominant (III), CBG-dominant (IV) or cannabinoid-free (V).Terpenes are volatile hydrocarbon compounds built from five-carbon isoprene units; in cannabis they are made in the trichome heads and are a major part of aroma and flavour.A terpene profile is the measured mix of terpenes in a sample, reported as each compound's % w/w and the total, used to describe and compare cultivar aroma chemistry.
