Its scientific name, Trema micrantha flower, is somewhat off-putting. But ever since a Brazilian biologist isolated cannabidiol, CBD, in this plant from America, often considered a weed, the curiosity it arouses is immense.
• Also read: Discovery of a new source of cannabinoids in a plant
• Also read: A new player in the world of cannabis: Mauricie
CBD, which is increasingly used to treat conditions such as epilepsy, chronic pain or anxiety, is one of the main active compounds in cannabis, along with tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, its banned mind-altering substance.
This discovery opens the possibility of an abundant new source of CBD that would not face the legal and regulatory hurdles of cannabis, which remains banned in many countries, including Brazil.
“With a plant (that contains CBD but does not contain THC), we avoid all the problems associated with psychotropic substances,” judges Rodrigo Moura Neto, the biologist who first isolated cannabidiol in Trema.
“That means the potential is huge,” he told AFP in his lab on a university campus in Rio de Janeiro.
Professor Moura Neto, 66, who conducted decades of public research in this humble lab, now has a busy schedule of meetings with patent experts and companies looking to tap into the ever-growing billions of dollars in CBD market.
Photo CARL DE SOUZA / AFP
A study conducted last year by market analysis firm Vantage Market Research valued the global CBD market at nearly $5 billion and predicted that it will reach more than $47 billion by 2028, driven largely by its derivatives ( 43 billion euros) for health and well-being.
Professor Moura Neto’s research team of 10 recently received a public grant of 500,000 reais (95,000 euros) to now determine the best methods of extracting CBD from the tiny flowers of the “Trema” and then its effectiveness as a substitute to investigate for medical marijuana.
“A lot of companies are calling and looking for a collaboration” in the development of a potential cannabis-free CBD drug, says lab director Rosane Silva. The interest was “enormous,” she says while standing next to what she calls “the magic plant.”
Like cannabis, the “Trema” belongs to the Cannabaceae family and can grow up to 20 meters in height.
Photo CARL DE SOUZA / AFP
SMOKING PROHIBITED
Rodrigo Moura Neto, who is trained in forensic genetics, began researching CBD by analyzing the DNA of marijuana seized by police to help investigators trace its origins.
When he came across a study that identified CBD in a related plant in Thailand, also part of the Cannabaceae family, he got the idea to try to isolate it in “Trema”.
He says it will take five to 10 years of research and clinical trials before his as yet unpublished findings become a marketable drug, if at all possible.
Photo CARL DE SOUZA / AFP
First domesticated in China more than 10,000 years ago, cannabis has been cultivated for millennia and has only been studied scientifically to refine its therapeutic properties and understand its effects on the brain for a few decades.
But the CBD contained in “Trema” may not work as well as hoped, if at all, warns Mr. Moura Neto, recalling with a smile that there is no point in smoking the plant: “It will do absolutely nothing” for you .
The therapeutic effectiveness of CBD is still the subject of much research. The connection is controversial, especially in Brazil, where even growing medical marijuana is illegal. Patients often have to import it at inflated prices and obtain permission to use it in court.