Pulegone Terpene

Pulegone is a monoterpene found in select cannabis cultivars, though typically in minor concentrations. It is commonly associated with mint and menthol-like aromatic profiles, and appears more frequently in certain Mentha-adjacent lineages and modern breeding programs exploring cooling sensory attributes. Pulegone occurs naturally in peppermint and spearmint plants, making it a recognizable compound in botanical contexts. In cannabis genetics, pulegone presence is often tagged as a secondary or tertiary volatile rather than a dominant terpene profile. Breeders working with pulegone-forward cultivars typically document it through gas chromatography analysis during phytochemical screening.

Cannabis breeders select for pulegone expression when targeting mint-forward or cooling aromatic phenotypes, though it remains a niche focus compared to limonene or myrcene work. Pulegone concentration tracking helps breeders distinguish chemotype variation within families carrying Mentha-influenced genetics or hybrid crosses designed for novel sensory profiles.