Fiber hemp as a valuable source of nutrients and nutraceuticals

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is considered one of the oldest crops known to man. It was used in the Old World for thousands of years as an important source of food, fiber, and medicine. Although primarily grown for hemp fiber used for production of durable plastics and specialty papers, fiber hemp plant has been attracting growing interest worldwide as a valuable source of nutrients and nutraceuticals. There is also a growing interest over the valorization of hemp secondary metabolites especially cannabinoids, which are believed to be beneficial in a number of physiopathological processes. There are 54 fiber hemp varieties registered in EU and 4 hemp varieties registered in Serbia. The aim of this study was to evaluate medical cannabinoids and nutrients (oil and protein) contents of all fiber hemp varieties registered in Serbia. Total oil content in seeds of investigated varieties ranged from 21.09 to 32.09%. Fatty acid analysis showed that hempseed oil is high in PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) content and polyunsaturated/saturated (P/S) ratio with linoleic (C18:2 ω-6) and linolenic (C18:3 ω-3) acids as the major polyunsaturated fatty acids. The cannabidiol (CBD) content in four analyzed varieties ranged from 1.00 to 1.27% and delta 9- tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content was approximately 3 times lower than the legal limit in EU. The obtained results indicate that all analyzed hemp varieties are an excellent source of nutrition and a valuable resource for the functional foods, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industry