If you’ve dipped your toes into researching CBD or medical cannabis, you’ve surely heard the term terpenes. It’s among the buzziest of cannabis industry buzzwords at the moment.

But just what are these plant-derived compounds, and why is everybody suddenly talking about them? After all, it’s complicated enough to wrap our heads around the latest data on CBD, THC, and other cannabinoids. Now there are more terms to master?

While it seems like a lot to learn, understanding terpenes (a.k.a. terpenoids) could be key to choosing the CBD product that is right for you. That’s because terpenes are aromatic compounds that are largely responsible for the differences in scent and flavor between cannabis strains, and they have health implications of their own.