Limonene in Medical Marijuana: Sixteen Strains from the List and Two Rodent Studies

• In the pharmacy list. Leads in 16 out of 85 strains and is the leading terpene for them according to pharmacy data.
• Evidence. 2 works from 2002 to 2025, all on animals or in cell culture, none on patients using the herb.
• Temperature. 177.8 °C, with the measurement condition determining whether the number means anything.
• What we do not provide. Percentage share in the profile, as the denominator in sources varies and the numbers are not comparable between strains.

What is limonene and where does it occur outside of cannabis?

Limonene is a hydrocarbon with the formula C10H16 and a molecular weight of 136.23, described in the PubChem database under number 22311. Cannabis is neither its parent plant nor the only place it occurs: the same compound gives the scent to citrus fruit peels, caraway oil, and the needles of coniferous trees growing in Poland.

The systematic name is 1-methyl-4-prop-1-en-2-ylcyclohexene, and chemical literature uses the abbreviations d-limonene and l-limonene, as the compound occurs naturally in both optical forms. The Hazardous Substances Data Bank, provided by PubChem, lists it in oils from oranges, lemons, grapefruits, caraway, dill, bergamot, and in both mints: peppermint and spearmint. The same entry lists plants that release it into the air, including Scots pine, fir, common juniper, cypress, and western red cedar. The scent is described there with one term: pleasant citrus.

Where these descriptions come from matters for what can be said about limonene. The physicochemical values we have come from chemical safety and industrial toxicology collections: CAMEO Chemicals, Hazardous Substances Data Bank, and OSHA listings. None of them were created to describe inhaling this compound along with vapor from cannabis herb. When a strain description lists limonene among its components, it refers to the chemistry of the plant, not the course of treatment. This distinction recurs in every section below, because without it, a page about the terpene turns into a promise.

How long does it take for limonene to reach the body and how long does it stay?

It is unknown. No one has measured how much limonene from cannabis vapor enters the blood or how long it stays there, so the honest answer is: there are no such data for the compound itself. However, one can provide the course depending on the route of administration of the whole raw material and the boiling temperature of the pure substance.

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 lasts for two to four hours. After ingestion, the raw material first passes through the intestine and liver, so the first sensations are waited for from half an hour to two hours, 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 this strain; pharmacokinetic studies for a single cultivar have not been published.

Pure limonene boils around 177.8 degrees Celsius. This value comes from converting the record of 352 degrees Fahrenheit at a pressure of 760 mmHg, accompanied in the source by a reference to the US Coast Guard from 1999; another record in the same collection mentions a range of 175-176 degrees. Both numbers pertain to conditions close to atmospheric, so they can be compared. For limonene, there is not a single measurement in our data taken under reduced pressure, which distinguishes it from caryophyllene and humulene: there such records exist, and then values cannot be directly compared with room temperature measurements.

None of these numbers describe the device. Boiling pertains to the pure substance under known pressure, and in the vaporizer chamber lies the crushed plant, in which limonene is a minor component of the mixture. We do not provide the setting or method of administration anywhere on this page, and they cannot be derived from the above values.

What have studies shown about the effects of limonene?

Two works, both on rodents. The first described muscle relaxation and prolonged sleep in mice after intraperitoneal administration, the second reduced swelling and pain responses in rats and mice. In the evidence base of the entire cluster, there are twenty-two works, and none of them involved humans.

The research model is here content, not a footnote. The older of the works introduced the substance to mice via injection into the abdominal cavity, which has nothing to do with inhalation. The newer one linked paw swelling in rats with the formalin test in mice and indicated a signaling pathway, not patient sensation. Translating such a result to humans would be an abuse, and it is not done here.

Proportions are also visible in the entire collection. Twenty-two works are distributed across eleven terpenes, and no human involvement has been recorded in any of them. Two do not concern mammals at all: one describes a transgenic radish along with an aphid, the other is a review of insect literature. Several others were conducted on cell cultures. For limonene, both entries are animal-based, so the upper limit of what can be derived from here is at the rodent level.

This collection looks poor only when compared to what is written about terpenes on the internet. Competing strain descriptions repeat the same general bibliography on every subpage and do not point to a single work that could be verified. The above table provides authors, journal, year, and publication number, so anyone can verify whether the result sounds as summarized here. Indicating two works that actually exist speaks more about the state of knowledge than a list of several dozen entries chosen without relation to the statement they are meant to support.

What has not been shown about limonene?

The most. Nothing has been shown in humans, as none of the works in this collection involved humans, and in animals, the only available result from the anxiety test went in the opposite direction to that repeated in commercial descriptions. The following sentence comes from the evidence base of the project and stands here in its original wording.

No anxiolytic effect of limonene has been demonstrated in humans. It has also not been shown that isolated limonene acts anxiolytically in animals; the only available data from the elevated plus maze test showed an opposite effect in mice, reducing the number of entries into the open arms even at a low dose.

Let’s expand on this, as it is easy to read too quickly. The elevated plus maze test measures a rodent’s willingness to enter an open arm, i.e., a more exposed place. A calmer animal enters there more often. Mice after limonene entered there less frequently, and that already at the lowest of the tested doses. The authors called the effect anxiogenic, i.e., anxiety-inducing. Therefore, it is not just the absence of evidence for an anxiolytic effect, but a result indicating the opposite, in one animal model.

Furthermore, three things that are most often asked have not been shown. First, no one has studied how much limonene passes into the inhaled vapor or whether the resulting dose has anything to do with the doses injected into rodents. Second, no study has been published for a single cultivar, so none of the strains listed below has its own result. Third, it has not been shown that the terpene marked in the list as leading predicts anything about the course of treatment.

Descriptions of strains circulating online rarely set this boundary and usually stop at general bibliography. Here, the boundary of evidence is part of the content, because without it, there remains a suggestion that the aromatic composition of the plant says something about the therapeutic effect.

What adverse effects have been reported after limonene?

None attributed to this compound. Reports are collected for a medicinal product with a specific batch number, not for a single terpene, so there is simply no compilation of symptoms after limonene from cannabis vapor. What is known about its harmfulness comes from cosmetics and skin contact.

Reports of adverse effects are collected for a medicinal product with a batch number, not for the strain name, so the following pertains to cannabis herb as a group of raw materials. The most frequently reported 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 increasing with the dose. A separate issue is medications taken concurrently, especially sedatives and those affecting coagulation: their assessment requires knowledge of the entire list of preparations, not the description of the plant. We do not provide the frequency of these symptoms numerically, as public compilations for cannabis herb in Poland do not separate them by individual products.

However, there is a lead for limonene from a completely different field. European Union cosmetic law lists it by name among fragrance substances that must be separately indicated in the product composition when concentration thresholds are exceeded, and at the same time limits its peroxide number to below twenty millimoles per liter. The limitation targets oxidized limonene, as products of its oxidation sensitize the skin, not the fresh compound.

This lead describes a cosmetic and skin contact, not inhaling vapor from a medicinal raw material. It cannot be derived from it either the frequency of respiratory tract irritations or the threshold above which vapor begins to irritate. Terpenes at high concentrations can be irritating to the respiratory tract and skin, and this statement is as general as the data allow. There are no specifics for limonene administered via inhalation in this collection, and pretending that there are would be the worst disservice to the reader.

Which strains from the Polish pharmacy list have limonene as the leading terpene?

Sixteen out of eighty-five cultivars described in this cluster. It is backed by eighteen registration entries from seven manufacturers. Fifteen strains are supplied by one manufacturer, and only Mac 1 comes from two. The list assigns one leading terpene to each entry, so the list below is a list of labels, not measurements.

The distribution of manufacturers is not equal. Cantourage appears with four strains from this list, S-LAB with three, Aurora with three, and Canopy Growth also with three, Four 20 Pharma with two, and Cosma and Synoptis Pharma with one each. The sum of these indications gives seventeen, which is one more than the names, as Mac 1 is supplied by two manufacturers at once. Mac 1 and Kush Mints have two registration entries, while the remaining fourteen strains have one each, totaling eighteen entries.

This set changes over time, and this is not an unfounded reservation. Permits have their expiration date, manufacturers withdraw batches and introduce new ones, and the pharmacy orders what is currently in stock. We maintain the current state of positions along with availability separately in the overview of strains available in Polish pharmacies. Cannabis herb itself is a pharmaceutical raw material dispensed by a doctor’s prescription in the Rpw category, so the presence of a name on the above list says nothing about whether the strain is suitable for someone.

Why do profile databases list limonene for sixty-four strains, while the list shows sixteen?

Because they answer two different questions. The pharmacy list indicates one leading terpene per registration entry, while profile databases enumerate all compounds described for the strain. Limonene is leading in sixteen cultivars, while it is present in sixty-four out of eighty-five in the composition. Merging these lists would yield a number without significance.

The profile databases also do not speak with one voice. Among those sixty-four strains, both sources describe the composition consistently in only two cases, diverge in nineteen, and forty-three entries rely on one source. For nine strains, limonene appears only at budcare.pl and is absent at medweed.pl, while for one, Northern Berry, it is the opposite. This is not a retrieval error, but a state of the market of descriptions.

Hence the rule that you will not see shares next to compound names here. The budcare.pl database places a number next to each of them that looks like a share, but the denominator remains unknown. For entries listing limonene, the sums of those numbers range from 58 to 125, with a median of 85. Eight entries sum exactly to one hundred, six exceed one hundred. A number whose sum can be greater than the whole is not a measurement and will not be presented here as such.

This is also evident in the sixteen strains from the list. For nine of them, the profile database also places limonene at the top. For four, it indicates something else: for Mac 1, farnezen; for Biscuit Runtz, caryophyllene; for Orange Cake, myrcene; for Sweet Berry Kush, pinene. For the remaining three, namely Blood Orange Kush, Gelato 33, and Kush Mints, no leading value is provided at all. The label from the list and the profile from the database are two different things.

Can the presence of limonene predict the scent or effect of the strain?

Partially yes for scent, not for effect. Chemical databases describe the scent of limonene as pleasant citrus, so the citrus note likely has its source in it. Transitions from composition to effect experienced by the patient have not been demonstrated for this compound in any study involving humans, as there is no such study in this collection.

The strain name can mislead in both directions. In the cluster, there are Frosted Lemon Angel, Frozen Lemon Mints, Lemon Haze Gelato, and Orange Cream Pop, and none of this quartet has been assigned limonene as leading, although all have it in their composition according to profile databases. Conversely, Sourdough, Farm Gas, or Modified Gas, whose names do not suggest citrus, are listed as leading.

The same applies to effects. In the profile database, limonene appears in one hundred eleven out of one hundred forty-six entries, and the highest value, without a tie with another compound, is found in only ten of them. A compound almost ubiquitous in descriptions is rarely leading in them, so basing predictions about effects on it would be building a conclusion on the label. The choice is determined by the doctor issuing the prescription, not the scent profile, and none of these names will be found in the store category of herb.

The conclusion from this page is brief. Limonene is well described chemically, is common in plants and everyday products, and is present in most strain profiles from this cluster. However, what is known about its impact on the body ends with two animal studies, one of which showed a direction contrary to common assurances.

Frequently Asked Questions about Limonene

Does limonene have anxiolytic effects?

This has not been demonstrated in humans. In animals, the only available result in this database from the elevated plus maze test went in the opposite direction: mice after limonene entered the open arms less frequently, and the authors described this effect as anxiety-inducing.

Is limonene found only in cannabis?

No. Toxicological databases list it in oils from oranges, lemons, grapefruits, caraway, dill, and bergamot, as well as in mints and among volatile compounds released by coniferous trees.

Is the boiling temperature of limonene a vaporizer setting?

No. About 177.8 degrees Celsius is the boiling temperature of the pure substance under pressure close to atmospheric. It is not a recommendation regarding the device or method of administration, and from this value, it does not follow how much of the compound enters the inhaled vapor.

How many strains from the Polish list have limonene as the leading terpene?

Sixteen out of eighty-five cultivars described in this cluster, and it is backed by eighteen registration entries from seven manufacturers. In the composition, according to profile databases, limonene is present in sixty-four strains.

Why do you not provide percentage shares of terpenes?

Because the denominator is unknown. For entries listing limonene, the sums of the numbers placed next to individual compounds range from 58 to 125, and eight entries sum exactly to one hundred. A value whose sum can be greater than the whole is not a measurement.

Can limonene cause allergies?

Yes, upon skin contact, and this primarily concerns oxidized limonene. European Union cosmetic law requires it to be indicated by name in the composition when concentration thresholds are exceeded and limits its peroxide number. For inhaling vapor from cannabis herb, there are no such data.

This material is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Cannabis herb is a pharmaceutical raw material dispensed by a doctor’s prescription in the Rpw category. The editorial text was prepared by the editorial team of ubucha.pl.