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From the plant

CBGACannabigerolic acid

The first cannabinoid of the biosynthetic pathway: the common substrate of the THCA, CBDA and CBCA synthases.

Hemp exemption
Level of detail

C₂₂H₃₂O₄

CAS 25555-57-1

Family
PhytocannabinoidPrincipal
Origin
Biosynthesis (plant)
First described
1965
Molar mass
360.49 g/mol

Updated on

In plain terms

CBGA is the first cannabinoid the plant makes. Three enzymes then turn it into THCA, CBDA or CBCA, the acids of THC, CBD and CBC. Some varieties in which these enzymes do not work accumulate mostly CBGA.

Receptors and activity

Target network

GPR55AntagonistIC50 = 5.7 µM · humaninhibition of LPI-induced ERK phosphorylation, HEK293-hGPR55 (4.8 µM against ML-186); non-competitive antagonism
  • Activates
  • Blocks or inhibits
  • Binds or modulates

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to CBGA: one ring per factor of 100. A target with no measured value stays on the edge.

Where these targets live

Where each target has been found in humans, according to the cited studies. The map shows the target, not an effect of CBGA.

Brain, side view
Body, front view
Blood

GPR55GPR55 found in 4 regions of the body

  1. Basal gangliapresentmRNA found in the caudate nucleus and putamen1
  2. BonepresentOsteoclasts and osteoblasts2
  3. Adipose tissuepresentExpressed in visceral adipose tissue3
  4. LiverpresentExpressed in the liver3

Map sources

  1. Sawzdargo M et al. Identification and cloning of three novel human G protein-coupled receptor genes GPR52, PsiGPR53 and GPR55: GPR55 is extensively expressed in human brain. Brain Res Mol Brain Res, 1999 (new tab)
  2. Whyte LS et al. The putative cannabinoid receptor GPR55 affects osteoclast function in vitro and bone mass in vivo. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2009 (new tab)
  3. Moreno-Navarrete JM et al. The L-α-lysophosphatidylinositol/GPR55 system and its potential role in human obesity. Diabetes, 2012 (new tab)

Cited values

  1. GPR55AntagonistIC50 = 5.7 µM · human21 out of 100

    Anderson et al. 2021, Br J Pharmacol (new tab) · inhibition of LPI-induced ERK phosphorylation, HEK293-hGPR55 (4.8 µM against ML-186); non-competitive antagonism

  2. GABAAModulatorEC50 = 910 nM · human34 out of 100

    Anderson et al. 2021, Br J Pharmacol (new tab) · potentiation of GABA currents, Xenopus oocytes expressing concatenated α1β2γ2; Emax 271%

  3. TRPV1AgonistEC50 = 21 µM · human11 out of 100

    De Petrocellis et al. 2011, Br J Pharmacol (new tab) · intracellular Ca2+, HEK-293-hTRPV1; efficacy 72.8% of ionomycin, then desensitisation (IC50 20.6 µM)

  4. TRPM8AntagonistIC50 = 1.3 µM · rat31 out of 100

    De Petrocellis et al. 2011, Br J Pharmacol (new tab) · inhibition of the Ca2+ response to icilin, HEK-293 expressing rat TRPM8

  5. PPARγAgonistno measured value cited
  6. PPARαAgonistno measured value cited
Bar length follows the measured value (Ki, Kd, EC50 or IC50), on one scale shared by every entry, from 100 µM to 0.1 nM. A target with no cited value has no bar.

Measured effects

Not characterised. No placebo-controlled human trial has measured the effects of CBGA, so no level is shown.

Levels computed from placebo-controlled human trials: difference from placebo on 100, at the dose and route stated. Read the method

Pharmacology

CBGA is the plant's first cannabinoid intermediate: a geranyltransferase, whose activity was described in young leaves in 1998 and whose gene (CsPT4) was identified in 2019, builds it from olivetolic acid and geranyl pyrophosphate (Fellermeier 1998; Luo 2019). It is then cyclised into THCA, CBDA or CBCA by three distinct synthases (Sirikantaramas 2004; Taura 1996; Morimoto 1998). Its isolation and structure were published in 1965 by Mechoulam and Gaoni, together with those of cannabidiolic and cannabinolic acids. In CBGA-dominant varieties, the trait is inherited as a single recessive gene, probably a non-functional allele of THCA synthase (Garfinkel 2021). CBGA is not unique to cannabis: Helichrysum umbraculigerum, an unrelated Asteraceae, accumulates up to 4.3 % of it through independently evolved enzymes (Berman 2023). In vitro, it showed no activity at CB1 and CB2 receptors at 3 µM, but it antagonised human GPR55 (IC50 of 4.8 to 5.7 µM) and amplified human GABAA currents (EC50 = 910 nM); in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome it had divergent effects, anticonvulsant in some tests and proconvulsant in others (Anderson 2021). It also acts as a dual PPARα/γ agonist in cell assays (D'Aniello 2019) and inhibits the TRPM7 channel through its kinase domain (Suzuki 2024). In cell culture, CBGA and CBDA prevented entry of pseudoviruses and of live SARS-CoV-2 (van Breemen 2022); no clinical data extend this result.

Key sources.

History

Source
Plant (acid produced by a prenyltransferase); also produced by Helichrysum umbraculigerum

Biosynthetic pathway

Produced by the plant: a membrane geranyltransferase (activity described in young leaves in 1998; the CsPT4 gene identified in 2019) joins olivetolic acid and geranyl pyrophosphate (GPP) to form CBGA (Fellermeier 1998; Luo 2019). CBGA is then the common substrate of THCA, CBDA and CBCA synthases; its decarboxylation gives CBG.

Classification

Family, origin and source verification

Family

Phytocannabinoid › Principal

Presence in the plant

Enzymatic biosynthesis in the plant

Chemistry

Type CBG · C5 side chain · acid form

Verification

Every fact on this entry was checked against its primary sources on 20 October 2026.

Wikipedia (English)

Cannabigerolic acid (new tab)

Article paired by the molecule's structure (InChIKey), revision read on 19 October 2026. Read as a second opinion, never cited as a source.

References

  1. Luo et al. 2019, Nature: complete biosynthesis, CsPT4 (new tab)PMID 30814733
  2. Fellermeier & Zenk 1998, FEBS Lett: olivetolate geranyltransferase (new tab)PMID 9607329
  3. Mechoulam & Gaoni 1965, Tetrahedron: isolation of cannabinolic, cannabidiolic and cannabigerolic acids (new tab)PMID 5879350
  4. Garfinkel et al. 2021, Genes: inheritance of CBGA dominance (new tab)PMID 33557333
  5. Berman et al. 2023, Nat Plants: CBGA in Helichrysum umbraculigerum (new tab)PMID 37127748
  6. Anderson et al. 2021, Br J Pharmacol: targets and Dravet models (new tab)PMID 34384142
  7. van Breemen et al. 2022, J Nat Prod: SARS-CoV-2 entry in vitro (new tab)PMID 35007072

Identifiers

Names

Common name
Cannabigerolic acid
IUPAC name
3-[(2E)-3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyl]-2,4-dihydroxy-6-pentylbenzoic acid
Other names
CBG-A

Identifiers

Formula
C₂₂H₃₂O₄
CAS
25555-57-1
PubChem CID
6449999(new tab)
ChEBI
67081(new tab)
InChIKey
SEEZIOZEUUMJME-FOWTUZBSSA-N
SMILES
CCCCCC1=CC(=C(C(=C1C(=O)O)O)C/C=C(\C)/CCC=C(C)C)O

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

LLM ingestion format: a structured superset of the entry (identifiers, binding, versioned legal status). Full corpus.