Brazilian Plant Found to Contain CBD

Recently the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) have discovered the presence of cannabidiol (CBD) in a native Brazilian plant, Trema micrantha blume (1). This exciting new finding might have the ability to grow the availability of medical cannabis in Brazil, where production and CBD use is limited by high costs and strict regulation.

The popular cannabinoid was seen in the flowers and fruit of the Trema micrantha blume, a small tree constantly seen across the country of Brazil. The plant is also known in Portuguese as candiúba, crindiúva, or pau-pólvora. It does not contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive cannabinoid found in cannabis.

“It would be an easier and cheaper source of cannabidiol [in Brazil],” said Rodrigo Soares Moura Neto, the lead researcher in the study.

Last year, a passed resolution from the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), restricted medical cannabis use by only allowing doctors to prescribe CBD in health conditions related to epilepsy in children and adolescents. The national health agency, Anvisa, imposed rules regarding commercialized CBD. Products must not have more than 0.2% of THC in its formula. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set the limit of THC to 0.3%.

“In the case of the Brazilian plant, this would not be a problem, as there is no THC in it. There also wouldn’t be judicial restrictions on planting, as it can be planted as much as we want. In fact, the plant is already spread all across Brazil,” Neto said.

Now the lead researcher is gathering a team of biologists, chemists, botanists, and geneticists who will research the most efficient ways of extracting CBD from the Trema micrantha blume tree. Within the next 6 months, the team will start the in vitro process of analyzing whether the CBD from the native Brazilian plant contains the same properties as CBD found in the Cannabis sativa plant.

With their research, the team aspire that their data will help overcome the legal barriers they experience in Brazil and help make medical CBD more widely available.

Reference

1. Malleret, C. Native Brazilian Plant Contains Cannabidiol, Researchers Find https://brazilian.report/liveblog/politics-insider/2023/06/20/native-brazilian-plant-cannabidiol/.