HEMP HELPS HUMAN HEALTH: ROLE OF PHYTOCANNABINOIDS

Industrial Hemp, or Cannabis sativa L., belongs to Cannabiaceae family is an oleaginous, the oldest medicinal plant cultivated by humankind in India, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Iran, Persians specifically for medicinal properties and non-edible fiber content. Initial uses of Cannabis date back to almost 5000 years in India which was well documented in Ayurveda. Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica were native of Indian origin found as wild noxious weed in the Indian Himalayan Region. Since then, hemp consumption has been spurred on by its wide range of properties and uses from Indian Himalayan civilization to another through consecutive millennia. Cannabis research work remains years behind than other crops because of the long legacy of prohibition and stigmatization. Hemp has historically been attractive for its top-quality fiber and edible oil. Hemp fibers are used in paper, carpeting, home furnishing, construction materials, insulation materials, hempcrete, auto parts and composites. The female inflorescence is the main product of Medical Cannabis sativa (marijuana or drug type). Cannabis sativa has developed full of glandular type of trichomes. Phytocannabinoids are produced and stored in glandular trichomes, located all over the aerial part of the plant. Phytocannabinoids possess therapeutic, antibacterial, and antimicrobial properties. The nutritional value of hemp is attracting special attention since hemp seed protein and oil is used in treatment of several human diseases.