Your first question about guaiol may not be about its flavors or effects. It is likely, “How the heck do you pronounce that?!?!?”
Perhaps it is the jumble of 4 vowels sandwiched between two consonants that makes the pronunciation appear so challenging. But saying “guaiol” is much easier than it appears. That’s because there is more than one way to pronounce it!
We suggest you Google “guaiol pronunciation” and check out the YouTube videos that pop up. For us, the first four videos listed in the results offered slightly varied pronunciations! But in general, you will notice that guaiol has three syllables, as follows: gua-i-ol. If you pronounce it as “g-why-ee-ol” we say you are close enough to sound like you know what you are talking about!
Now let’s complicate this a bit more… If someone mentions champacol, they are actually speaking of guaiol by its other known name!
Fortunately, what guaiol can do for you is much simpler than its multiple names and pronunciations!
A Unique Sesquiterpene
As explained in greater detail in our article Terpene Talks: Overview, terpenes are classified as either monoterpenes or sesquiterpenes. Guaoil falls into the latter category of sesquiterpenes.
But guaiol is not your typical sesquiterpene! While most sesquiterpenes are compounds found in essential oils, guaiol appears instead in a liquid form known as sesquiterpenoid alcohol.
Also, this terpene is not as abundant in the world of nature as most other terpenes. In fact, besides hemp and cannabis plants, you only find guaiol in two other places: a plant and a tree. The next section offers you more details on its plant sources.
Where You Find Guaiol
Most sesquiterpenes are found in a plethora of trees and plant food. In the case of guaiol, it is limited to one tree and one plant, as follows:
- Cypress Pine
- Guaiacum
As you probably already guessed, guaiacum is the plant from which the terpene earned its name. While also found in the Cypress pine, guaiol is the primary compound in guaiacum.
In hemp (and cannabis) cultivars, guaiol makes up a minor portion of the overall terpene profile. But its minority status doesn’t mean it isn’t contributing to overall effects, as you will soon learn.
Flavors and Fragrances
Because guaiol is limited to just a couple of plant species, the flavors and fragrances are similarly limited, as follows:
- Pine
- Rose
- Woodsy
All three of the above fragrances are particularly powerful, so a little bit of guaiol goes quite far. That’s the main reason why you never find high percentages of this terpene in any hemp flower cultivar.
Potential Benefits
For centuries, indigenous peoples used the guaiol found in the guaiacum for medicinal purposes. Two notable remedies involved extracting guaiacum gum from the wood for treating syphilis and relieving the intensity of a menstrual cycle.
As a newer terpene on the radar, research on guaiol has been limited to date. That being said, modern science is already making inroads into learning what properties guaiol may offer. So far, it appears that guaiol may help in the following manners:
- Antioxidant – diets rich in antioxidants can reduce the risk of other diseases as well as prevent damage caused by prolonged exposure to oxygen
- Antiparasitic – might be effective in treating diseases caused by parasites like amoeba, ectoparasites, helminths, parasitic fungi, and protozoa (to name but a few)
- Insect Repellant – perhaps not a medical miracle, but anything that annoys pests enough to drive them away works for us
- Tumor Reduction – a recent study on mice showed a reduction in tumors along with a boost in chemotherapy benefits
This is perhaps the most unusual of all wellness mixes we have found with terpenes so far. Because of that, the inclusion of guaiol in your wellness cabinet may be a very good idea!
Fern Valley Farms Products with Guaiol
Interested in learning how guaiol might personally benefit you?
Since we strive to list the terpenes included in any product containing them, we recommend you use our search feature to identify products with guaiol. Just click the magnifying glass icon (at the top right of any page) and type in “guaiol” to get a fast and accurate list of pages including that word somewhere on its page. Included in the search results are scads of products, so click those of most interest to see how much guaiol appears in those products. (Remember, it won’t be a high amount but it will do the job!)
For an example of our search engine results, click the search term below (results open in a new tab)…
Guaiol search results
As you will see in the search results, terpenes show up in many products besides our hemp plants (where they naturally appear). You can also find those aromatic and influential compounds in other products: our concentrates, tinctures, capsules, and lotions are great places to start.
Interested in learning more about terpenes? Our series of Terpene Talks is the perfect springboard for expanding your knowledge!
