In a just-published study, scientists report the plant wairuakohu bears significant concentrations of compounds similar to two key ones found in cannabis: THC and CBD. Photo / Plant and Food Research “Very few plants that we know of make these type of compounds – and this one makes both a THC-like compound and CBD-like one,” Plant and Food Research scientist Dr Richard Epsley said.
“That’s the critical thing, as CBD is the major constituent for medicinal cannabis .”
The new findings stem from a seven-year project led by iwi Te Kawerau a Maki, Ngāti Hauā and Ngāti Hinerangi, and involving Rua Bioscience Ltd, IO Ltd and Plant and Food Research.
Rua Bioscience ’s Manu Caddie, who set up the consortium, said the research had also shown the plant could be grown indoors without affecting its special compounds. Wairuakohu – viewed here with a microscope – is a small liverwort growing in remote locations around the country. Photo / Plant and Food Research He pointed out its compounds didn’t have the same psychoactive side effects as THC – and were found in quantities too low to have therapeutic benefits from consuming it raw.
“There is no benefit to harvesting the plant in the wild, and it will easily become endangered if not appropriately managed,” he said.
“Anyone who takes plants or fungi from the forest without permission from the relevant kaitiaki is a bio-pirate and should be identified as such.”
More research was planned to help conserve the plant – and to investigate new opportunities for its cultivation and use.
Medicinal cannabis, which Caddie’s company focuses on, has been projected to become a crop worth more than $230 million to New Zealand’s economy within a decade.
Whether the slower-growing wairuakohu could have similar potential wasn’t yet clear. Rua Bioscience’s Manu Caddie. Companies around the world have already been lodging patent applications for PET, given its potentially lucrative prospects of cannabis-like health benefits with fewer side effects.However, Epsley said drug discovery was difficult and expensive.“So far, the signs [with wairuakohu] are reasonably promising – but it’s very early days.”It also highlighted the importance of learning more about the […]
This tiny native plant has cannabis-like properties – here’s why that’s exciting
