Cannabinoids—Characteristics and Potential for Use in Food Production

Abstract

Scientific demonstrations of the beneficial effects of non-psychoactive cannabinoids on the human body have increased the interest in foods containing hemp components. This review systematizes the latest discoveries relating to the characteristics of cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa L. var. sativa, it also presents a characterization of the mentioned plant. In this review, we present data on the opportunities and limitations of cannabinoids in food production. This article systematizes the data on the legal aspects, mainly the limits of Δ9-THC in food, the most popular analytical techniques (LC-MS and GC-MS) applied to assay cannabinoids in finished products, and the available data on the stability of cannabinoids during heating, storage, and access to light and oxygen. This may constitute a major challenge to their common use in food processing, as well as the potential formation of undesirable degradation products. Hemp-containing foods have great potential to become commercially popular among functional foods, provided that our understanding of cannabinoid stability in different food matrices and cannabinoid interactions with particular food ingredients are expanded. There remains a need for more data on the effects of technological processes and storage on cannabinoid degradation.

Analysis and Identification of Bioactive Compounds of Cannabinoids in Silico for Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV

“…Protein Data Bank ( , accessed on 16 March 2022) provided the three-dimensional crystal structures of the SARS-CoV-2-RBD (PDB ID: 6M17) complex and SARS-CoV-RBD (PDB ID:3R4D) with 2.9 Å and 3.1 Å resolution, respectively [ 5 , 28 ]. To identify cannabinoids of the potential antiviral activities, we obtained bioactive molecules of cannabis from PubMed ( , accessed on 18 March 2022) and traditional Chinese medicine system pharmacology (TCMSP) ( , accessed on 18 March 2022) as well as other reports with 2D structures in SDF file format [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. We obtain a total of 42 non-repeat bioactive compounds to use as ligands for further investigation.…”

Cannabis sativa Cannabinoids as Functional Ingredients in Snack Foods—Historical and Developmental Aspects

“…Some of these cannabinoids may be used to treat human ailments such as pain, anxiety and cachexia [ 34 , 36 ], to stimulate appetite, and to act as an antiemetic [ 37 ]. The primary metabolites (amino acids, fatty acids, and steroids) in low-THC hemp plants are used to synthesize secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, terpenoids, lignans, alkaloids and phytocannabinoids [ 38 ], the latter being characterized by a C21 terpenophenolic backbone [ 18 , 33 ]. The synthesis of THC involves the decarboxylation of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA); whereas CBD is a decarboxylated product of cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) [ 39 ].…”

“…However, the permitted amount of CBD per serving should not exceed 20 mg and the sales pack may not exceed a total of 600 mg of CBD [ 3 ] and should contain less than 0.001% THC [ 80 ]; whereas, in the USA, edibles should contain less than 0.3% THC and CBD at levels between 10 and 1500 mg [ 81 ]. Despite these regulations, there are concerns about some errors in labelling where the cannabinoid concentration of the edibles does not correspond with the content recorded on the labels [ 38 ]. Some edibles have been found to contain either less or more cannabinoid content than the amount claimed on the label [ 82 ].…”

Potential applications of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) extracts and their phytochemicals as functional ingredients in food and medicinal supplements: a narrative review

“…However, marketing challenges and differently regulated hemp‐based supplements in various countries are among other challenges to the applications of hemp‐derived phytochemicals and hemp extracts in food and pharmaceutical products (Cohen & Sharfstein, 2019). In addition, more data on the cannabinoid stability in different food matrices and storage processes are warranted to augment the commercial popularity and utilise the great potential of hemp food and supplements (Kanabus et al ., 2021).…”