Guaiol is a bicyclic sesquiterpene alcohol found in guaiacum wood oil and cypress pine, where it can crystallise out of the oil. Its smell is woody, piney and faintly rosy. In cannabis it is a minor terpenoid, more common in some cultivar families, and often reported on larger panels alongside other sesquiterpene alcohols such as eudesmols.
In practice
Typical flower readings run from not detected to roughly 0.2% w/wbeing reviewed. Guaiol is one of the terpenoids that, with eudesmols and bulnesol, has been associated with certain landrace-derived chemotypes in some studies, but the pattern is not strong enough to use as a cultivar fingerprint. Low volatility means it holds up through drying and storage.
Don't confuse with
- Guaiacol: a smoky phenol from wood smoke; a different compound.
- Guaiacum: the tree genus that gives the name.
- Eudesmol: a related sesquiterpene alcohol that often co-occurs.
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.ND (non-detect) on a COA means the compound was not found at or above the method's limit of detection; it does not mean the amount is zero.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).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.Nerolidol is a woody, floral, slightly citrus sesquiterpene alcohol found in neroli, jasmine and tea, and as a minor terpene in some cannabis cultivars.
