Galaxy Walker OG and Master Kush: nerolidol versus caryophyllene, lineage established versus unknown

• Profile. Galaxy Walker OG leads with nerolidol, Master Kush leads with caryophyllene.
• Availability. Both are supplied by S-LAB, Synoptis Pharma, Tilray, so one order can include both.
• Origin. The lineage of one is established, the other is not, so we cannot compare them based on origin.
• What this table does not say. It does not include the declared content as a single number or price. Which strain is suitable for whom is determined by the attending physician, not by the comparison of features.

What really distinguishes Galaxy Walker OG and Master Kush?

The leading terpene and the state of knowledge about lineage. Galaxy Walker OG has nerolidol at the forefront, Master Kush has caryophyllene, and for one entry of the latter strain, myrcene comes to the forefront. The parents of the first plant are named in the sources, while the parents of the second are not established by any available study. The producers and declared content are the same for both.

The pair was included in the comparison precisely because the number alone does not separate them. Both plants are produced in Poland by the same trio of entities, both are listed in pharmacies under the same registered name structure, namely Cannabis flos with the producer’s designation, and both have the same declared content range in our data. If the only difference were the percentage, there would be nothing to write about.

The difference begins in the order of terpenes. In the share profiles of one service, Galaxy Walker OG has nerolidol at the forefront, followed closely by caryophyllene; Master Kush has this order reversed, and the position of Synoptis Pharma brings myrcene to the forefront. Catalog descriptions of the aroma follow this: the first strain is attributed with spicy, minty, and pine notes, while the second has earthy and peppery notes with a hint of camphor.

The second difference concerns what is known about the plant, not the plant itself. The lineage of Galaxy Walker OG is named in the sources, while the lineage of Master Kush remains unknown and is not supplemented by any catalog. This means that one of these strains can be placed in a lineage graph, while the other cannot be placed until someone publishes its parents.

What connects these two strains?

The same trio of producers, the same declared content range, and the same eight-element set of terpenes in the taxonomy of one of the services. Their lineage does not connect: the lineage graph does not provide them with a common parent, and the repeated part of the name on one side and in the parent of the other does not prove kinship.

The producers are literally the same: S-LAB, Synoptis Pharma, and Tilray produce both of these strains in Poland, and in the catalog from which we read the composition, each has four registered entries. The set of names in the profile is also the same: bisabolol, humulene, caryophyllene, limonene, linalool, myrcene, nerolidol, and pinene. What differs is not the list, but the order and weight of individual components.

Finally, they share the same declared THC content range, which is 16.2-24.2%. However, these are not the ranges of a single producer around a single declaration. The range consists of several separate registered entries with different declarations: the lower ones give 16.2-19.8%, the higher ones 19.8-24.2%, and combined they cover everything in between. Such a wide dispersion cannot be derived from the manufacturer’s tolerance alone.

Both entries also share the mode of issuance. Cannabis flower is a pharmaceutical raw material issued by a doctor’s prescription in the Rpw category, so the application and method of administration are determined by the attending physician. A completely different category, unrelated to this raw material, is hemp flower with cannabidiol, sold over the counter and subject to different regulations.

Why is more known about the lineage of one than the other?

Because for one, the sources name the parents, while for the other, they provide regions or mutually exclusive versions. Galaxy Walker OG is described as a cross between Skywalker OG and OG Kush, while the parents of Master Kush have not been established in our data, and no breeder catalog supplements this.

For Galaxy Walker OG, two independent descriptions refer directly to the Tilray entry sold in Poland, and both provide the same pair of parents. We noted the caveat along with them: the producer’s own website with this information could not be found, so the lineage is based on external studies, not on the manufacturer’s document. A separate entry dedicated to this strain discusses this in more detail.

Master Kush has two versions in public circulation, and neither ends with naming the parents. The breeder’s catalog speaks of a cross between two landraces from India and Afghanistan, indicating regions, not strains. The second version adds a skunk line. A landrace is a family of style, not an identified cultivar, so even accepting the first version does not provide parents that could be placed in the graph. The record of unknown lineage is a result here, not a gap to be filled, and this is similarly discussed in a separate entry about this strain.

Establishing lineage does not mean that the lineage is fully researched. OG Kush, the parent of Galaxy Walker OG, itself has its origin marked as unknown in our graph, and Skywalker OG does not belong to that cluster at all, so the established line breaks off one generation higher. On the same side, the graph connects Galaxy Walker OG with three other cultivars in the comparison, which also have OG Kush among their parents. Both strains do not have a common ancestor at all, and the similarity of names is misleading: the word kush carries ten cultivars, five of which have unknown origins. The sibling field is empty for both.

How do the terpene profiles of both strains look according to sources?

Unevenly, and this is the first result of this comparison. The composition of Galaxy Walker OG is described by two services and they differ from each other: humulene, linalool, and pinene appear only in one of them. The composition of Master Kush comes from a single source, so it cannot be compared or confirmed.

We do not transcribe shares as percentages, and this pair shows why. Eight entries from one service, four for each strain, have declared share sums equal to 100, 102, 102, and 100 for the first strain and 84, 83, 84, and 64 for the second. Sometimes it exceeds one hundred, sometimes it is less than two-thirds, and the record is the same in each of these entries. Since the sum is not constant, the denominator remains unknown, and a number pulled from such a set would appear to be a measurement, which it is not.

The discrepancy does not end with the list of names. In the second service, the S-LAB entry for Galaxy Walker OG describes only one terpene, myrcene, while the Tilray entry for the same strain opens the list with nerolidol. On the Master Kush side, the same service has no entry, so the comparison is one-sided by definition. Even within a single source, the order can vary: three Master Kush entries prioritize caryophyllene, while the fourth, from Synoptis Pharma, brings myrcene to the forefront and lists only five names instead of eight.

Both leading terpenes boil at higher temperatures than myrcene, and this is evident in the source data: for nerolidol, the bases provide 275-277 degrees Celsius, for caryophyllene around 256-259, and for myrcene about 167. However, the vaporizer setting does not equal the temperature of the flower, and the order in the profile is not a forecast of the action’s course.

What do studies say about nerolidol, the leading terpene of Galaxy Walker OG?

As much as shown in mice, and not a word about this strain. Two studies describe nerolidol administered to animals, none studied the flower or the entire profile. The results of neither can be transferred to the other side of this comparison, as the leading terpene is different there.

The first study was authored by Fonsêca et al. in 2016 in Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology (PMID:26791997), rodent model (mouse). The result reads: “Nerolidol (200-400 mg/kg) reduced the number of abdominal contractions induced by acetic acid in mice and lowered the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-1beta; the authors suggested the involvement of the GABAergic system in the analgesic effect, as opposed to the opioid mechanism and potassium channels.”

The second was published by Hojjat et al. in 2026 in Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria (PMID:42447923), rodent model (mouse, oral administration): “Oral nerolidol (25-100 mg/kg) prolonged the latency to seizures induced by pentylenetetrazole (MCS and GTCS phases) and reduced markers of oxidative stress in the brain.”

The boundary of this data stands in our database, and we transcribe it unchanged: It has not been shown that nerolidol alleviates anxiety or insomnia in humans; both available studies concern rodents and describe analgesic, anticonvulsant, and antioxidant effects, not sleep or mood.

The rest of what circulates about Galaxy Walker OG is catalog material. Labels like “relaxing” come from strain cards, not from clinical research, and have not been verified on any batch of this flower. Patient reports are also not a measurement here, as no one collects them separately for the name of the cultivar.

And what has been shown for caryophyllene, the leading terpene of Master Kush?

Also only on animals and in vitro, although the studies are older and more mechanistically anchored. Two entries describe binding to the CB2 receptor and reduced pain responses in mice. None of them mentions the Master Kush strain, as they studied a single compound, not the flower.

Gertsch et al., 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) (PMID:18574142), mouse model (in vivo) and in vitro (receptor binding, human cells): “(E)-caryophyllene selectively bound to the CB2 receptor (Ki = 155 nM) and inhibited carrageenan-induced paw swelling in wild-type mice, but not in CB2 receptor-deficient mice (Cnr2-/-), indicating a CB2-dependent mechanism; the study did not include any anxiety tests.”

Klauke et al., 2014, European Neuropsychopharmacology (PMID:24210682), rodent model (mouse): “Oral caryophyllene reduced the late inflammatory phase of pain in the formalin test in a CB2 receptor-dependent manner, with no effect on the early phase; in a neuropathic pain model, it alleviated thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia without developing tolerance with chronic administration.”

We record the boundary of these two studies as it stands in the database: Neither of the two studies tested caryophyllene on humans or in inhaled form from the flower; both studies concern oral or systemic administration in mice in pain and inflammation models, not sleep or mood.

The balance of both sides thus comes out similar: four studies on animals and in vitro, not a single study involving patients, zero data on the cultivars themselves. The difference in the leading terpene is a difference in the composition declared by the services, not in proven action, and this should be read accordingly.

What adverse effects have been reported after each of these two strains?

Separately for neither is there anything quantifiable. Reports go into the system under the product’s batch number, not under the strain name, so it cannot be said whether anything different was reported after Galaxy Walker OG than after Master Kush. The difference in the number of reports would not be evidence of a difference in safety, anyway.

Reports of adverse effects are collected for the medicinal product with a batch number, not for the strain name, so the following concerns cannabis flower as a group of raw materials. The most commonly reported effects are dry mouth, red eyes, and increased heart rate. Less frequently described are dizziness upon rapid standing, daytime drowsiness, and transient worsening of short-term memory, as well as anxiety that increases with dosage. A separate issue is medications taken concurrently, especially sedatives and those affecting coagulation: their assessment requires knowledge of the entire list of preparations, not just the description of the plant. We do not provide the frequency of these symptoms numerically, as public compilations for cannabis flower in Poland do not separate them by individual products.

Therefore, the same caution applies to both strains, despite the difference in profile and lineage. Neither the predominance of nerolidol nor the predominance of caryophyllene changes the fact that data on symptoms is collected for the product with a batch number, not for the plant with a given name.

How long does the effect of each of these strains last?

The same duration, as the course is determined by the route of administration, not the cultivar name. Neither the terpene composition nor the lineage changes the fact that after inhaling vapor, everything happens faster, while after ingestion, it happens slower and lasts longer. There are no separate measurements for either of these two strains.

The route of administration determines the course more than the strain itself. After vaporization, the substance passes from the lungs to the blood almost immediately, so the first sensations appear after a few minutes, the intensity increases for another ten to thirty minutes, and the whole effect wears off within two to four hours. After ingestion, the raw material first passes through the intestine and liver, so the first sensations are awaited from half an hour to two, and the episode lasts six, sometimes eight hours. Hence the most common mistake with oral administration: those who think nothing is happening after thirty minutes and take another dose will receive both doses at once. The above ranges describe the route of administration, not the strain; pharmacokinetic studies for a single cultivar have not been published.

From this comparison, one conclusion arises: the difference between nerolidol and caryophyllene is not a difference in how long the episode lasts. If someone described one of these strains as faster or longer-lasting, they would be talking about the method of administration or their own impression, not about the property of the plant.

Frequently asked questions

Do Galaxy Walker OG and Master Kush have a common ancestor?

No. In the lineage graph of this cluster, Galaxy Walker OG has two named parents, Skywalker OG and OG Kush, while Master Kush has no established lineage. Therefore, a common ancestor cannot be indicated, and the similarity in the sound of the names does not resolve this issue.

Why do we provide the same THC range for both strains?

Because both have several registered entries in pharmacies with different declarations, and we provide a range that encompasses them all, namely 16.2-24.2% THC content. This is not the dispersion of a single batch or the range of a single producer around a single value, but a combination of separate declarations from several entries.

Which terpene leads in the profile of each of these strains?

In the share profiles, Galaxy Walker OG leads with nerolidol, while Master Kush leads with caryophyllene. A caveat applies to the latter: one of the four registered entries brings myrcene to the forefront ahead of caryophyllene, so even within a single service, the order is not constant.

Does a different leading terpene mean different effects?

It is unknown. The order of terpenes comes from catalog declarations, and the studies we have in the database concern individual compounds administered to rodents, not the flower and not these strains. Therefore, the difference in composition does not imply a difference in effect, although it is often presented this way in commercial descriptions.

Where to check if either of them is currently available in pharmacies?

From the current list of available strains on this service, as availability changes faster than any description. In our data, three out of four entries for Galaxy Walker OG were marked as unavailable, while for Master Kush, it was the opposite, and this is not a feature of the strain, but the state of supply in a given week.

Is cannabis flower from the pharmacy the same product as flower from the store?

No. The strains described above are pharmaceutical raw materials issued by a doctor’s prescription in the Rpw category. The over-the-counter hemp flower with cannabidiol is a different plant, a different mode of issuance, and different regulations, meaning it is a completely different category, despite the similar common name.

Editorial text from ubucha.pl, prepared by the ubucha editorial team. The material is for informational purposes and does not replace the advice of the attending physician.