Hydroponic Cultivation of Medicinal Plants—Plant Organs and Hydroponic Systems: Techniques and Trends

Abstract

Medicinal plants are a globally important resource for the treatment of disease and improvement of human health, and the only form of healthcare used by millions of people. Currently, the status of many medicinal species is threatened by overharvesting caused by increasing demand. While many species have been cultivated in soil, the resulting material often contains lower levels of medicinal compounds than that of wild-harvested plants. Hydroponic cultivation of medicinal plants may provide sustainable access, with research demonstrating increased secondary metabolite content in some species compared to both wild and soil-grown plants. There are a variety of hydroponic systems and techniques available, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. As medicinal compounds are often localised within specific plant organs, selecting hydroponic systems that maximise the yield of the desired organs and metabolites is necessary. However, as of yet there has been no attempt to examine the literature with regards to the cultivation of specific plant organs of medicinal plants in hydroponics. This article explores the use of different hydroponic systems to cultivate medicinal plants and how the choice of system differs depending on the desired plant organ, as well as highlighting studies with novel outcomes that may provide value to the field.

Anti-staphylococcal activity of soilless cultivated cannabis across the whole vegetation cycle under various nutritional treatments in relation to cannabinoid content

“…The soilless cultivation of cannabis plants in expanded clay was conducted in a room with controlled lighting, temperature, and humidity. For the experiments, vegetative propagation of clones was performed by cutting from apical positions with at least three fully expanded uncut leaves obtained from C. sativa L. ‘McLove’ mother plants 68 . This cultivar is characterized by its elevated THC content, reaching up to 20%, while its CBD levels remain below 0.3%.…”

Effect of augmented nutrient composition and fertigation system on biomass yield and cannabinoid content of medicinal cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) cultivation

“…The plant material utilized in this study consisted of cuttings (apical parts with at least 3 fully expanded leaves) obtained from C . sativa L. ‘McLove’ mother plants ( Atherton and Li, 2023 ). These plants belong to chemotype I, characterized by a high ratio of Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinolic acid:cannabidiolic acid (THCA : CBDA > 1.0) (Handbook of cannabis, 2016).…”

Farming of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Italy: Structural Features and Economic Results

“…This implies that to preserve the conditions and vital resources necessary for the survival of future generations, a commitment to the adoption of sustainable practices by both consumers and companies is essential. To achieve this goal, the adoption of sustainable practices throughout the entire supply chain, including the careful selection of cultivation sites based on species needs, embracing conservative agriculture, and incorporating innovative techniques like hydroponic cultivation [20], as well as leveraging new technologies in post-harvest processing, can markedly diminish the sector's environmental impact, thereby positively influencing biodiversity conservation [17,[21][22][23][24][25]. To this end, the cultivation of MAPs in Italy is regulated, as of 2018, by the Testo Unico in materia di coltivazione, raccolta e prima trasformazione delle piante officinali, pursuant to the Legislative Decree 75/2018.…”