1,8 Cineole Might be the best Friend You Never Knew You Had
Commonly known as Eucalyptol, 1,8 Cineole is a natural organic compound and was identified in 1870 by François Stanislas Cloez. Since he was working with the essential oil of the Eucalyptus globulus plant, he called the substance Eucalyptol, but the substance is found in varying concentrations in camphor laurel, bay leaves, tea tree, mugwort, sweet basil, wormwood, rosemary, sage, and of course cannabis sativa.
By being very similar in structure to the predominant chemical in camphor tree bark, Eucalyptol has a very similar spicy aroma and flavor. Traditionally it is used as a flavoring, in fragrances and cosmetics, and even in cigarettes. It is a pretty widely used chemical and is mostly extracted from Eucalyptus oil by fractional distillation, a process of separating substances based on boiling points using precisely controlled additions of heat.
Excellent Stress and Inflammation Resistance
Sounds like a pretty normal substance so far, but when a closer look is taken at the medicinal uses for this essential oil, it starts to really shine. Eucalyptol has been to shown to help with asthma by blocking cell communications in the nasal cavity that normally perpetuate symptoms of cold and flu. The chemical is also shown to reduce inflammation when used topically on the skin, the outer most layer of which is called the stratum corneum. You’ll thank me on trivia night.
In experiments on Limonene and 1,8 Cineole regarding pre-op and post-op stress levels both terpenes helped reduce stress levels of patients significantly. Limonene is a terpene similar to Eucalyotol and is also found in cannabis. This effect has long been known to naturalists, who have been using Eucalyptus to ease stress for centuries.
Potential use in Targeted Cancer Medicines
The most promising study on the chemical showed that it is effective in killing leukemia cells in a petri dish. By inducing a process called apoptosis, which is programmed cell death, 1,8-cineole kills cancer cells. A major cause of cancer is failed programmed cell death, Eucalyptol elegantly finishes the job, by fragmenting the DNA of the cancer cells into oligonucleosomal-sized (several link DNA base pairs ) pieces the way the body naturally would when a cell is no longer working properly.
Luckily for all of the smokers out there, Eucalyptol is one of the major terpenes of Cannabis sativa. This chemical is one of the major differences between indica and sativa aside from morphology and potency. It brings with it a spicy smell that accents pure sativas, and adds an increased analgesic action to the sativa. It is also one of the causes of the uplifting feeling of a sativa high, and selecting plants for these terpenes can exacerbate the difference between indica and sativa. Try one of Green House Seed Co world famous sativa dominated strains to find out.
