The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is promoting a novel study suggesting that an often underutilized part of the hemp plant—its roots—may hold significant therapeutic potential, including in the treatment of pediatric cancer.
Government scientists at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) “redefined the value of roots in industrial hemp, providing new opportunities for industrial hemp growers and opening new avenues for pediatric cancer research,” the agency said in a press release this week.
The study, published in the Journal of Cannabis Research last year, discovered that there’s a component of hemp roots with four distinct compounds known as “neolignans” that scientists until now have not realized exist in the cannabis crop.
“We believe this new discovery offers industrial hemp growers a potential new revenue stream from a part of the plant that was previously overlooked,” Korey Brownstein, a research chemist at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, said.
“Unlike crops such as corn or soybeans, which have multiple uses, hemp has been limited in scope,” they said. “But if we treat hemp as a multi-use crop, we can expand its applications and market—paper, grain, fiber, and now, potentially, pharmaceutical compounds from the roots. The discovery of these compounds adds
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