According to a study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers have discovered a strategy to grow and harvest cannabis to acquire the maximum production of CBD.
Cannabidiol, also known as CBD, is an active chemical substance that occurs naturally in cannabis plants. CBD is a very popular complementary medicine treatment for a wide range of illnesses, from depression and epilepsy to joint pain and eczema.
Despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of CBD in treating these illnesses, the demand for cannabinoids is rising, with the authors estimating that the global market will reach $9.69 billion by 2025.
The most recent study is a collaboration between the University of York in the United Kingdom and Khon Kaen University in Thailand. Researchers wanted to know how to grow cannabis to produce the most CBD.
While THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the ingredient that makes you high, is typically illegal, CBD is allowed in many nations. As a result, cannabis farmers who are making CBD products must take care to maintain the THC levels in their plants below the limit allowed by law.
The authors have looked into how the chemical makeup of hemp changes depending on when it is harvested. This information is important for getting the most CBD out of cannabis plants and maximizing the crop’s industrial worth without producing more THC, which is banned.
According to Hunt, the legal THC content restriction in the USA cannot be higher than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis in any plant parts, seeds, or extracts.
The study found that lipids, THC, and essential oils all underwent significant compositional changes as the cannabis plant grew.
The authors discovered that cannabinoids and essential oils rose in the plant’s tops (inflorescences) until the third harvest’s full flowering, then they started to fall at the maturation of the seeds in the fourth harvest.
Prior to flowering, the plant’s cannabinoid levels are initially low while hemp matures, according to Hunt. “The cannabinoid content then starts to decline until seed maturity.
“However, a significant increase (63 percent) in the illegal psychoactive cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was noted at this harvest stage as compared to the budding stage of development, where the plant initially begins flowering. The highest concentration of cannabidiol was extracted from the tops at full flowering.
Due to the high cannabidiol content and low THC levels, harvesting the tops after budding would be preferred.
This study also shows that wax esters and phytosterols, which have been employed in beauty and personal care goods as well as drugs to lower blood cholesterol, are present in the leaves.
By harvesting the various chemicals at various periods, the findings of this study may enable cannabis farms to boost production.
