Spent hemp biomass (SHB) contains trace amounts of cannabinoids, including Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), that may accumulate in the tissues of animals consuming SHB. We measured cannabinoid ...residues in the liver, adipose tissue, and muscle of finishing lambs fed either 10% or 20% SHB for 8 weeks, or 4 weeks followed by 4 weeks SHB withdrawal. We detected multiple cannabinoids in the liver at a similar proportion to the SHB. However, CBD and Δ9-THC were enriched >20-fold in the adipose and muscle, compared to their proportion in SHB. The highest concentration of Δ9-THC was detected in adipose tissue and was 7.4-times higher than in muscle. Most cannabinoids were undetectable in tissues after 4 weeks of clearance. The consumers’ exposure assessment on Δ9-THC revealed tissue levels of total THC (THCA+Δ9-THC) that exceed the acute reference dose of 1 μg/kg BW across population groups. When consuming meat from the lambs fed 10% and 20% SHB, the maximum total THC exposure was 2.03 and 7.32 μg/kg BW, respectively, equal to or below the Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level of 36 μg/kg BW, the No Observed Adverse Effect Level of 12 μg/kg BW or a tolerable dose intake of 7 μg/kg BW.
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•Cannabinoids accumulate in the liver, adipose tissue, and muscle of lambs fed 10 or 20% spent hemp biomass.•Δ9-THC had higher accumulation in adipose tissue than in liver and muscle tissues.•The consumption of cooked-meat would exceed the acute reference dose of Δ9-THC in several population groups.•Most cannabinoids are eliminated in all tissues by 4 weeks withdrawal of spent hemp biomass from the diet.
The textile industry is one of the highest polluting industries in the world. Recent studies have explored the introduction of environmentally friendly textiles to address this issue. One of these ...textiles is fiber derived from industrial hemp, which was recently approved for growth in the United States through the 2018 Farm Bill legislation. Motivated by hemp’s potential to have a lower ecological footprint than cotton, the objective of this study is to determine if industrial hemp fiber can be produced in an economically competitive manner. Through the lenses of sustainable development and systems engineering, the basic design of the research assesses material selection decisions economically by taking a holistic supply chain view of the agricultural activities associated with industrial hemp compared to its largest competitor (i.e., cotton). With both fibers being comparable in performance, the production process of both textiles is juxtaposed, to account for interdependencies among stages with key economic and environmental considerations. As the economic cost of agricultural activities for hemp is currently uncertain in the United States, our methodology considers four main data inputs to capture the agricultural activities. First, fertilization costs are regarded as part of the cost associated with field preparations. Second, we assess the seed costs associated with cultivation. Third, the cost of irrigation (i.e., water consumption) and fourth, pest control cost represents the cost of field operations. These costs, combined with fiber yield, are used to estimate and compare the two fibers in USD per metric ton of final fiber produced. Industrial hemp is a high yield crop with (on average) 3 times more metric tons of fiber produced per hectare cultivated. Therefore, the adoption of hemp enables a reduction in cost associated with agricultural activities of 77.63%, when compared to cotton for medium total agricultural activity cost and medium yield estimates. In summary, our results suggest that industrial hemp fiber is economically viable and has the potential to be a more environmentally friendly alternative material than cotton within the textile industry.
•The textile industry demands sustainable material alternatives.•We study the potential of (industrial) hemp as a fiber alternative to cotton.•We show that hemp requires a sustainable amount of water, land, and no pesticides.•We provide evidence that hemp fiber is a sustainable and economical alternative.
Climate change from carbon emissions and rising energy demands poses a serious threat to global sustainability. This issue is particularly noticeable in Canada where per capita energy demands are ...high and fossil fuels are used. Industrial hemp can be used for bioenergy production as an alternative to fossil fuels to capture and utilize carbon, with applications in various markets at high values. Despite this, industrial hemp has faced legal barriers that have hampered its viability. This review describes industrial hemp, its status in global markets, its performance as bioenergy feedstock, and potential in Canada, so research can target gaps in available knowledge. Numerous bioenergy applications for industrial hemp exist; the production of bioethanol and biodiesel from industrial hemp has strong potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the Canadian economy. The current study found that industrial hemp can compete with many energy crops in global markets as a feedstock for many bioenergy products with solid hemp yielding 100 GJ/ha/y, allowing for economical emissions reductions for example in coal/biochar blends that can reduce emissions by 10%, and in co-production of bioethanol and grain, generating $2632/ha/y. This work also suggests industrial hemp has unique potential for growth in Canada, though processing facilities are severely lacking, and hemp growing has some negative environmental impacts related to fertilizer use. Responsible growth could be realized through incentivizing or subsidizing processing facility investment, implementing co-production where possible, and funding research to improve conversion, harvesting and polygeneration processes.
•Industrial hemp has greater versatility and profitability than many competing crops.•Canada is among the top industrial hemp producer in the world.•Industrial hemp is ideal as a biofuel feedstock.•Bioethanol and biodiesel can be co-produced with other products efficiently.•Higher biofuel content can contribute in reducing Canada's GHG emissions.
•Ratios of red and blue LED light significantly affect the growth of hemp.•Ratios of red and blue LED light notably affect the CBD content in hemp.•LED light affects CBD yield by changing flower ...biomass and CBD content.
Given the special pharmacological value of cannabidiol (CBD), industrial hemp (hemp) has become a real “hot” crop. Though indoor farming of hemp has been widely used, the effects of red and blue light-emitting diode (LED) acting as supplementary light on the CBD synthesis in hemp remains unclear. Herein, a pot experiment with six treatments CK, high-pressure sodium as light source, (R:B (ratio of red light to blue light) 9.30:1, PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) 191); LED1 (R:B 9.20:1; PPFD 129); LED2 (R:B 1.61:1; PPFD 540); LED3 (R:B 6.47:1; PPFD 28.2); LED4 (R:B 7.15:1; PPFD 41.7); LED5 (R:B 16.8:1; PPFD 252) was carried out to study the effects of LED light quality on the growth and cannabinoid synthesis of hemp. Results showed that LED2 and LED5 could well maintain hemp growth compared with CK in terms of plant height, stem diameter, and leaf numbers. Compared with CK, the treatment of LED1, LED4, and LED3 significantly decreased the aboveground biomass, while LED2 and LED5 notably improved the aboveground biomass with an increment of 15.2 % and 55.1 %; the biomass of hemp flowers for LED2 and LED5 was markedly increased compared with that for CK with increments of 238 % and 61.5 %, respectively, but the other LED light treatments significantly reduced the flowers yield; LED2 could significantly increase the CBD content of both leaves (1.81 %) and flowers (5.83 %) compared to CK (leaves 1.38 %, flowers 4.27 %) while LED5 only notably increased the CBD content of leaves; among the LED treatments, the theoretic CBD yield for a per plant of LED2 and LED5 was 26.8 % and 9.0 % higher than that of CK. In conclusion, different red and blue LED light intensity ratios would dramatically influence the growth and cannabinoid synthesis of hemp, LED2 and LED5 can be good choices for indoor farming of hemp targeted for higher CBD yield.
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•Four varieties of hemp biomasses were investigated for bioethanol production.•Industrial hemp biomass has a higher glucan content (40.12 to 42.71%).•NaOH pretreatment enhanced ...delignification and boosted glucose and ethanol yields.•No significant variation in ethanol yield among four hemp varieties treated by NaOH.
In this work, four varieties of hemp biomasses (Helena, SS Beta, Tygra, and Elleta Campana) pretreated with liquid hot water (LHW), H2SO4, and NaOH were investigated for ethanol production. Physicochemical and morphological properties of the pretreated hemp biomass were characterized. LHW achieved high glucan (85–98%) and xylan (67–71%) recoveries. H2SO4 induced significant glucan decomposition (5.9–10.6 g/L) and inhibitor formation (4.5–7.4 g/L of HMF and 2.8–4.5 g/L of furfural) in resulting slurries. Both LHW and H2SO4 pretreatments resulted in low glucose and ethanol yields due to recondensed lignin units. NaOH pretreatment achieved high glucose and ethanol yields due to efficient lignin removal (58.6–75.3%). There was no significant variation in ethanol yield among the four hemp varieties pretreated by NaOH. H2SO4 and NaOH pretreated biomasses showed apparent terraced-field structures and microporous protuberances. Changes in crystallinity indexes and intensities of FTIR peaks were consistent with enhanced cellulose and decreased amorphous hemicellulose.
•Industrial hemp biomass is an excellent alternative candidate for biofuel production.•Hemp biomass has higher cellulose content compared with other agricultural residues.•Research activities and ...barriers on converting hemp biomass to ethanol was reviewed.•Innovative research approaches for boosting sugar and ethanol yields were suggested.
Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) with robust drought-resistant features has excellent agronomic and pharmaceutical characteristics. As the federal prohibition on hemp cultivation was lifted, its valorization in various aspects is highly required. This review aims to summarize the potential of hemp biomass for bioethanol production. Chemical compositions of hemp biomass were evaluated as compared with those of corn fiber, corn stover, and sorghum bagasse. Several representative pretreatment technologies used for hemp biomass were summarized in terms of sugar recoveries, lignin removal, and sugar and ethanol yields. This review presents numerous technical barriers attributed to insufficient fermentable sugar and ethanol concentration during the conversion processes. Also, innovative research approaches (pretreatment optimization, co-fermentation of hexose and pentose, increasing potential sugar loading) in overcoming these challenges were critically reviewed. This review would promote future research on the utilization of hemp biomass for biofuel applications.
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•The impact of sample pretreatment with heat and microwaves on hemp essential oil was studied.•Microwave heating at 900 W for 1 min increases cannabidiol content by 45%.•The ...sesquiterpene fraction was enhanced as well.
Byproducts of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), including inflorescences, represent an exploitable material to produce niche products for the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic and pesticide industry. One of them is the essential oil, whose composition can be properly modulated on an industrial level by optimizing the extractive conditions and sample pretreatment. This allows to achieve high concentrations of bioactive compounds, such as cannabidiol (CBD) and sesquiterpenes e.g. (E)-caryophyllene. In the present work, we evaluated the effects of type of distillation apparatus, status of conservation of the plant material, grinding and sample-pretreatment with microwave and heat, on the hemp essential oil chemical profile obtained from the monoecious cultivar Felina 32. Seven marker compounds, including the monoterpenes α-pinene, myrcene and terpinolene, the sesquiterpenes (E)-caryophyllene, α-humulene and caryophyllene oxide, and the cannabinoid CBD were quantified in the different hemp essential oil samples by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) analysis, whereas the overall chemical profiles were achieved by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis. Results showed that hydrodistillation (HD) in comparison with steam distillation (SD) gave a higher content of cannabinoids. Drying was fundamental to induce decarboxylation of cannabinoid acids to the relative alcoholic forms, coupled with an increase of the sesquiterpene fraction. The optimization of sample pretreatments pointed out that the exposure of dry inflorescences to microwave heating at 900 W power for 1 min was the best method to increase the abundance of bioactive compounds in the essential oil, with special reference to CBD, (E)-caryophyllene and caryophyllene oxide. Overall, these results give new insights into the exploitation of hemp byproducts in different fields such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and eco-friendly insecticides.
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•Hemp is an underutilised multipurpose crop for the tropical environments.•A rapid assessment framework for hemp in tropical environments was developed and tested.•The multistage ...suitability assessment includes crop modelling and economics.•Suitability and performance of hemp showed its potential for Malaysia.•This approach can be used for agricultural diversification with underutilised crops.
Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a multipurpose industrial crop which is mainly cultivated in temperate regions. With its high potential for economic returns for its seeds and fiber, there is growing interest in cultivating hemp in many territories including Malaysia and other Asian countries, where its cultivation is currently illegal. To date, no comprehensive study on the suitability of this crop under Malaysian conditions has been conducted. In this paper, we propose an assessment framework as a roadmap to develop the hemp industry in Malaysia and possibly other Asian countries with equatorial climates. This framework includes suitability assessment (climate and soil), crop modelling (current and future yields under climate change) and economic analysis (net present value (NPV), NPV benefit (NPVB) and benefit-cost ratio (BCR). The land suitability assessment classified hemp as an adaptable crop for most of the land in the country. The AquaCrop model, parameterised from secondary data collected from literature was used in simulations and potential yield mapping. The estimated average potential seed and fiber yield at six locations between 2010 and 2019 was 1.61 ± 0.25 and 2.78 ± 0.39 t ha–1 respectively. Using five general circulation model (GCM) simulations, yields under future climates in Malaysia showed an increase in most of the locations. The highest NPVB of 1641 USD ha–1 (BCR of 1.33) for seed was estimated under current climate conditions. Yields of 1.38 t ha–1 (seed) and 3.62 t ha–1 (fiber) are the minimum economically feasible yields with a Benefit-Cost Ratio of 1.00 suggesting a potential for hemp cultivation in comparison to countries with established hemp industries. The present framework could be used to develop a pathway for adoption of hemp as a crop for the future in tropical countries.
•Lead (Pb) content in roots was 2–7 times higher than in stems, leaves, and fibers, and 6–25 times higher than in seeds.•Pb in industrial hemp leaves was mainly distributed in the cell wall and ...chloroplasts, with the least accumulation occurring in the organelles.•Pb content of each chemical form in the leaf was Pb HCl (hydrochloric acid) ＞ Pb E (ethanol) >Pb W (deionized water) >Pb HAc (acetic acid) >Pb NaCl (sodium chloride).
Industrial hemp has an excellent lead (Pb) tolerance and accumulation capacity. Further enhancing the Pb tolerance and its accumulation in industrial hemp is of great significance for its future application in phytoremediation. In present study, a pot experiment using Pb-contaminated soil was conducted to investigate the accumulation of Pb contents in various organs of industrial hemp and its subcellular distribution and extractable form in the leaves. It was found that under Pb stress, the Pb content in plants increased significantly with an increase in the soil Pb concentration. Lead was mainly concentrated in the roots, followed by stems and leaves, while the lowest Pb contents were found in seeds (<12 mg/kg). The Pb content in roots was 2–7 times higher than in stems, leaves, and fibers, and 6–25 times higher than in seeds. At the subcellular level, Pb in industrial hemp leaves was mainly distributed in the cell wall and chloroplasts, with the Pb content first increasing and then decreasingas the soil Pb concentration increased, reaching a maximum at 4000 and 3000 mg/kg, respectively. Lead was less accumulated in the vacuoles and soluble parts of cells, with the least accumulation occurring in the organelles. There was no nsignificant increase in Pb content in these subcellular locations with the increase in soil Pbconcentration. Treatments with different Pb concentrations affected the extractable form of Pb in hemp leaves. The HCl extractable form of Pb, with low activity, was predominant in the leaves. The proportional content of Pb in each form was different in the various parts of the plant. The Pb content of each form in the leaf was Pb HCl(hydrochloric acid)＞Pb E (ethanol)>Pb W (deionized water)>Pb HAc (acetic acid) >Pb NaCl (sodium chloride), indicating that Pb in industrial hemp mainly exists in the form of insoluble oxalate precipitates, thereby alleviating the toxicity of Pb. The results of this study provide a scientific reference for the use of industrial hemp to remediate Pb polluted soils.
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