Do Cannabis seeds contain THC and CBD?

 

Before prohibition, Cannabis seeds were always part of the food chain for humans and animal feed. The reason for this is that Cannabis seeds provide a full spectrum of nutrients essential to human survival. The perfect balance of these essential nutrients is only found in the seeds which are the edible fruits of the Cannabis plant. [1] Dr Clauido 1 Oct 2019 The Nutritional Contents of Cannabis Seeds and Their Health Benefits published www.mednews.com

Cannabis seeds contain protein, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, including omega 3, 6, 9 and GLA (Gamma-linolenic acid). They also contain iron, copper, potassium, zinc, magnesium, folic acid, manganese, Vitamin E and most of the B vitamins, but the big question is: Do they contain Cannabinioids?

In the last paragraph of page 19 of Chapter 2 in my first book Cannabis is The Human Companion Plant, I made a bold statement declaring that Cannabis seeds are “also loaded with Cannabinoids”. In my confidence to make this statement I did not include a citation and this paper serves to clarify this debate.

It is common knowledge in the Cannabis Community that there is no smokeable THC in Cannabis seeds and further, many scientists and other authors firmly believe that Cannabinoids do not exist in Cannabis seeds at all. These same people also do not believe that there is Cannabinoid presence in the plant’s roots. They believe that Cannabinoids are only present in the flowers, stalks and leaves of the Cannabis plant.

The History of Cannabis seeds as a medicine

In the 1920’s Cannabis seeds were often prescribed for headaches and migraines. To this day, if you enjoy the art of antiquing, you may still come upon these old tin or cardboard boxes from old fashioned stores where this remedy was sold over the counter in any chemist or drugstore. [2] Dr Ethan Budd Russo, Hemp for Headache: An In-Depth Historical and Scientific Review of Cannabis in Migraine Treatment Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics Volume 1 Issue 2 March 2001 DOI: 10.1300/J175v01n02_4

China has always held the oldest history of medicinal use of Cannabis as recorded in the Pen-tsao Ching more than 5000 years ago. In the Middle Ages there are records of the Islamic world using Cannabis seeds for treating ear-ache as well as for chronic pain. In 12^th century Renaissance Europe, herbalist Hildegard von Bingen wrote about the healing of Cannabis in her paper called Physica. [3] Hashish! By Robert Connell Clarke 1998.

 

“Whoever has an empty brain and head pains may eat it and the

head pains will be reduced. Though he who is healthy and full of

brains shall not be harmed by it.–He who has an empty brain

shall be caused pain by indulging in hemp. A healthy head and a

full brain will not be harmed.”

In England the medicinal use of Cannabis was vigorously pursued and in 1640, John Parkinson wrote:

‘‘The decoction of the roote is sayd to allay inflammation

in the head, or any other part, the herbe it selfe, or the

distilled water thereof performeth the like effect;’’

[4] John Parkinson, 1640, The Theater of Plantes, page 598 

And in 1998 a study revealed the use of Cannabis by the Hmong minority in the China-Vietnam border region. The paper stated that raw Cannabis seeds were thoroughly chewed and used as a poultice in the forehead for headache relief. [5] (Gu and Clarke 1998), page 6. 

To this day there is still huge interest in the nutritional value of Cannabis seeds and indeed there are very strict regulations to protect people from the potentially harmful phytocannabinoids, especially Delta-9 THC. In Canada, this limit is 10ug of Delta-9 THC per gram of Cannabis seeds [6] Yi Yang, Melissa M. Lewis et al, 1 Oct 2017, Cannabis sativa (Hemp) Seeds, Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol, and Potential Overdose. 

One has to wonder….if there are no Cannabinoids in Cannabis seeds, then why are these seeds so heavily controlled? Of course the seeds are illegal because they may or may not grow into THC abundant female plants, but still one has to wonder! 

Here in South Africa our Cannabis seed medicine is controlled by SAHPRA (South African Health Products Regulatory Authority) who execute the Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965. If you go to their website and look at the FAQ’s you will clearly see how controlled Cannabis seeds are. 

Question 4 asks: What is the current status of cannabis in terms of the Medicines Act? The answer confirms that Cannabis seeds are illegal if they contain more than 0.001% THC.

Question 5 asks if processed hemp fibre products are excluded from Schedule 7 and the answer confirms that such products are excluded if they ‘do not contain whole Cannabis seeds’. 

Question 6 asks if processed Cannabis seed products are excluded from Schedule 7 and the answer again confirms that such products will be excluded provided that their THC content is less than 0.001% THC and ‘the products do not contain whole Cannabis seed’. 

Question 10 enquires as to when CBD-containing products may be excluded from the provisions of the Act  and once again, the answer confirms that CBD-containing products may be excluded when containing less than 0.001% THC and less than 0.075% CBD and the products ‘may not contain whole Cannabis seeds’. This answer is repeated again for 

Question 11 and 12 respectively. SAHPRA specifically mention the exclusion of whole Cannabis seeds 6 times in their FAQ section! 

In my opinion the reason why Cannabis seeds are so heavily controlled is precisely because they are loaded with Cannabinoids. There are many papers online to confirm that Cannabis seeds contain a variety of Cannabinoids. 

“We discovered that Δ⁹-THC concentrations in these hemp seeds could be as high as 1250% of the legal limit, and the amount of phytocannabinoids depended on the extraction procedure employed, Soxhlet extraction being the most efficient across all three brands of seeds. Δ⁹-THC and CBD exhibited significant variations in their estimated concentrations even from the same brand, reflecting the inhomogeneous nature of seeds and variability due to the extraction method, but almost in all cases, Δ⁹-THC concentrations were higher than the legal limit. These quantities of total Δ⁹-THC may reach as high as 3.8 mg per gram of hemp seeds, if one were consuming a 30-g daily recommended amount of hemp seeds, and is a cause for concern for potential toxicity. It is not clear if these high quantities of Δ⁹-THC are due to contamination of the seeds, or any other reason.” [7] Yang Y, Lewis MM, Bello AM, Wasilewski E, Clarke HA, Kotra LP (2017) Cannabis sativa (hemp) seeds, Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol and potential overdose. Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research 2:1, 274–281, DOI: 10.1089/can.2017.0040. 

This same paper acknowledges the difference between ‘drug and fiber-type’ (Hemp) Cannabis seeds. The Hemp seeds in the study contained 0-12ug Delta-9 THC per 1 gram of seeds. On the other hand, the Delta-9 THC found in “drug-type’ Cannabis seeds were found at considerably higher levels of between 35.6-124 ug/gram of seed.  

No matter how insignificant the presence of Cannabinoids like THC and CBD for example, is in the Cannabis seed; there is definitely Cannabinoid activity happening in the fruit of the Cannabis plant. It seems that scientists and students of Cannabis medicine still have a lot of research to do especially in respect of biosynthesis of the different parts of the Cannabis plant. [8] Eunyoung Jang et al, January 2020, Forensic Science International Journal, Concentrations of THC, CBD, and CBN in commercial hemp seeds and hempseed oil sold in Korea, PMID: 31786513

Save Your Seeds!