Caryophyllene oxide is an epoxide formed when beta-caryophyllene reacts with oxygen. The plant makes some, but much of what a lab finds in dried flower forms during drying and storage. Its smell is faint, woody and dry compared with the spicy parent compound.
In practice
Read it as an age and handling marker. Fresh, well-stored flower usually shows little caryophyllene oxide relative to beta-caryophyllene; flower that has been dried warm, stored in air or kept for a long time tends to show a higher ratio. Comparing the oxide-to-parent ratio between two COAs of the same cultivar is a quick, rough way to see which sample was handled more gently, provided both labs report both compounds.
Don't confuse with
- Beta-caryophyllene: the aromatic parent compound.
- Humulene epoxides: related oxidation products of humulene.
- CBN: also an age marker, but from cannabinoid oxidation.
Beta-caryophyllene is a spicy, peppery sesquiterpene common in cannabis, notable as a dietary terpene that also binds the CB2 receptor in laboratory studies.Humulene (alpha-humulene) is a woody, earthy, hop-like sesquiterpene, an isomer of beta-caryophyllene that usually appears alongside it in cannabis profiles.CBN (cannabinol) is a cannabinoid formed mainly when THC or THCA oxidises after harvest, so high CBN readings usually signal age, heat, light or air exposure, not plant ripeness.A cannabinoid is any compound that binds the body's cannabinoid receptors or shares the typical cannabis terpenophenolic structure; the plant-made ones are phytocannabinoids such as THCA and CBDA.A sesquiterpene is a fifteen-carbon terpene made from farnesyl pyrophosphate, such as beta-caryophyllene, humulene and bisabolol; they are heavier and less volatile than monoterpenes.A terpenoid is a terpene-derived compound that carries extra functional groups, usually oxygen (alcohols, oxides, ketones), such as linalool, bisabolol or caryophyllene oxide.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.
