α-Pinene

Alpha-pinene is a pine-scented terpene, the main constituent of turpentine; it is also found in rosemary and in hemp itself. It is not a cannabinoid: tested in the laboratory, it acts on neither the CB1 nor the CB2 receptor. It is authorised as a food flavouring in the European Union; breathed at high concentration, it irritated the eyes, nose and throat of volunteers, and in rats and mice exposed by inhalation for two years it increased the frequency of several tumours.

• CB1No measured activity

  No change in membrane potential, nor in the response to CP55,940 (1 µM) or to Δ9-THC

  Santiago et al. 2019, Cannabis Cannabinoid Res (new tab) · membrane potential (potassium channels), AtT20 cells expressing human CB1; (+)-α-pinene from 1 nM to 100 µM

• CB2No measured activity

  No change in membrane potential, nor in the response to CP55,940 (1 µM) or to Δ9-THC

  Santiago et al. 2019, Cannabis Cannabinoid Res (new tab) · membrane potential (potassium channels), AtT20 cells expressing human CB2; (+)-α-pinene from 1 nM to 100 µM

• CB1No measured activity

  Radioligand binding unchanged and cAMP not modified, alone or with Δ9-THC, cannabidiol or 2-AG

  Finlay et al. 2020, Front Pharmacol (new tab) · [3H]CP55,940 displacement, membranes of HEK cells expressing human CB1, and cAMP signalling (CAMYEL BRET biosensor); α-pinene at 10 µM

• CB2No measured activity

  Radioligand binding unchanged and cAMP not modified, alone or with Δ9-THC, cannabidiol or 2-AG

  Finlay et al. 2020, Front Pharmacol (new tab) · [3H]CP55,940 displacement, membranes of HEK cells expressing human CB2, and cAMP signalling (CAMYEL BRET biosensor); α-pinene at 10 µM

• TRPA1No measured activity

  No change in intracellular calcium, nor in activation by cinnamaldehyde, Δ9-THC or 2-AG

  Heblinski et al. 2020, Cannabis Cannabinoid Res (new tab) · intracellular calcium, HEK Flp-In T-Rex cells expressing human TRPA1; (+)-α-pinene at 10 µM

• TRPV1No measured activity

  No change in intracellular calcium, nor in activation by capsaicin or anandamide

  Heblinski et al. 2020, Cannabis Cannabinoid Res (new tab) · intracellular calcium, HEK Flp-In T-Rex cells expressing human TRPV1; (+)-α-pinene at 10 µM

• AChEInhibitor

  IC50 = 630 µM · human

  Perry et al. 2000, J Pharm Pharmacol (new tab) · human erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase, Ellman method; uncompetitive and reversible inhibition

• AChEInhibitor

  (+)- and (−)-α-pinene among the potent inhibitors of the 17 bicyclic monoterpenoids tested (colorimetric method); uncompetitive inhibition

  Miyazawa & Yamafuji 2005, J Agric Food Chem (new tab)

• Site des benzodiazépines (récepteur GABA-A)Modulator

  Lengthens the decay constant of spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents; effect abolished by flumazenil; binding to the α1 and γ2 subunits proposed by molecular docking

  Yang et al. 2016, Mol Pharmacol (new tab) · electrophysiology in hippocampal slices, CA1 pyramidal neurons; (−)-α-pinene

Sources: Myrcene, PubChem (HSDB), Limonene, NIST Chemistry WebBook, β-Caryophyllene, PubChem (JECFA), Linalool, PubChem (CRC Handbook), α-Pinene, PubChem (HSDB).

α-Pinene is a bicyclic monoterpene, a terpene and not a cannabinoid: it does not carry the cannabinoid skeleton and does not act on cannabinoid receptors. In cells expressing the human receptors, it altered the activity of neither CB1 nor CB2, alone or combined with Δ9-THC, up to 100 µM (Santiago 2019), and neither displaced a radioligand nor altered cAMP signalling through these receptors at 10 µM (Finlay 2020): these two studies do not support an 'entourage effect' acting through the cannabinoid receptors. The 2021 study that calls some cannabis terpenes 'cannabimimetic' did not test α-pinene but β-pinene (LaVigne 2021). Other targets have been described at high concentration or in animals: inhibition of human acetylcholinesterase in vitro (IC50 = 0.63 mM, Perry 2000) and, in mice, a modulation of GABA-A receptors abolished by flumazenil, orally given (−)-α-pinene having lengthened non-rapid eye movement sleep and shortened sleep latency (Yang 2016). The main constituent of turpentine, present in pine trees, rosemary and cannabis (NTP 2026), it is formed in hemp trichomes by a (+)-α-pinene synthase (Booth 2017). In volunteers exposed by inhalation, pulmonary uptake was about 60% at the higher exposures (Falk 1990). In 2026 the National Toxicology Program concluded that there was clear evidence of carcinogenic activity in female rats and in mice of both sexes exposed for two years by inhalation, and some evidence in male rats (NTP 2026). In the United States, 21 CFR 172.515 lists it among the synthetic flavouring substances permitted in food.

European Union

α-Pinene is listed under number FL 01.004 ('pin-2(3)-ene', CAS 80-56-8) in the Union list of flavouring substances, established by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 872/2012 in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008. It carries footnote 2 there, still present in the consolidated version of 16 February 2026, which places it among the substances whose evaluation is not complete, EFSA having requested additional scientific data. It has no harmonised classification in Annex VI of the CLP Regulation (consolidated version of 1 July 2026), unlike turpentine oil, classified among others as Flam. Liq. 3, Asp. Tox. 1 and Skin Sens. 1. It appears neither in the annex to Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA nor in the schedules of the 1961 and 1971 United Nations conventions (INCB Yellow List, 65th edition, 2026; Green List, 36th edition, 2025).

France

Not classified as a narcotic in France: a terpene without a cannabinoid skeleton, α-pinene is named neither in the arrêté of 22 February 1990 nor in the ANSM consolidated list of narcotics (updated 26/06/2026), and does not fall within the generic class of the benzo[c]chromene nucleus (ANSM decisions of 22 May and 3 June 2024). As a flavouring substance authorised in the Union, it comes under French food flavouring law.

Sources: EUR-Lex, UNODC, CND, ANSM, IUPHAR/BPS, ChEBI, EUDA. Our method.

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