Posted on 01/29/2025 1:20:06 PM PST by Red Badger
A type of Trema micrantha. (Daniel Pineda Vera/iNaturalist/CC BY 4.0) Scientists have discovered cannabidiol, a compound in cannabis known as CBD, in a common Brazilian plant, opening potential new avenues to produce the increasingly popular substance.
The team found CBD in the fruits and flowers of a plant known as Trema micrantha blume, a shrub which grows across much of the South American country and is often considered a weed, molecular biologist Rodrigo Moura Neto of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro told AFP in 2023.
CBD, increasingly used by some to treat conditions including epilepsy, chronic pain and anxiety, is one of the main active compounds in cannabis, along with tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC – the substance that makes users feel high.
The compound's effectiveness as a medical treatment is still under research.
Distribution of Trema micranthum blume. (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew/CC by 4.0) Neto said chemical analysis had found "Trema" contains CBD but not THC, raising the possibility of an abundant new source of the former – one that would not face the legal and regulatory hurdles of cannabis, which continues to be outlawed in many places, including Brazil.
"It's a legal alternative to using cannabis," he said.
"This is a plant that grows all over Brazil. It would be a simpler and cheaper source of cannabidiol."
Scientists had previously found CBD in a related plant in Thailand, he said.
Neto, who had not yet published his results, said he now plans to scale up his study to identify the best methods to extract CBD from "Trema" and analyze its effectiveness in patients with conditions currently treated with medical cannabis.
His team recently won a 500,000-real (US$104,000) grant from the Brazilian government to fund the research, which he estimates will take at least five years to complete.
A study by market analysis firm Vantage Market Research estimated the global market for CBD at nearly US$5 billion, and projected it would grow to more than US$47 billion by 2028, driven mainly by health and wellness use.
guessing Bob Dylan was right...”Everybody must get stoned! on something.
What is it with the Pot People? No other group of addicts is so dedicated to pushing their poison on everyone.
Dave's not home.
You don’t get stoned on CBD
“a shrub which grows across much of the South American country and is often considered a weed”
I can we can still call it “weed.”
When I was growing up on a farm in the Midwest in a spot in our formerly used hog lot there grew wild some of the tallest cannabis plants. I guess the hog manure was great fertilizer.
I remember pulling up one plant and hanging it in a shed, but I chickened out and destroyed it pretty soon thereafter.
The wildwood flower grew out on the farm
And we never knowed what it was called
No, THIS is Dave. Dave’s not here. This is Dave. Dave? Dave? Yes, don’t answer the phone. What?
A guy I went to grade school with and worked with at a restaurant for a while drove to Kansas and saw a field of it and stopped to pick some. The cops knew about it too and were waiting for him. He called his Dad to bail him out and his Dad refused. Last I heard he had never spoken to his father again.
Depending on exactly where in the Midwest, the weed might have been descended from selectively planted ‘hemp’ from WW2 era production. Some of those plants were 8 ft. or more.
Iowa State University, for one, kept selective breeding records.
Yes, I knew it was grown as a crop for making rope.
God is good, and believes in redundancy
Rainy Forest Women #12 & 35.
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