Researchers in Brazil Discover CBD in Tropical Shrub

Researchers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro have discovered the
presence of the highly sought cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) in a shrub that
grows along the Atlantic coast of Brazil, according to an Earth.com report.
The CBD is particularly measurable in the plant’s fruits and flowers.

The team identified the compound using specialized liquid chromatography
and mass spectrometry. Their next step involves investigating whether the
shrub — *Trema micrantha*, also known as the Jamaican nettletree or capulin
— is a good candidate for commercial-scale CBD extraction. The team is
relying on a public grant for 500,000 Brazilian reals (BRL), or about
$104,000 in USD.

Dr. Rodrigo Moura Neto, a Brazilian molecular biologist, said in the report
it was “wonderful” to find a CBD-rich plant that does not contain the
psychoactive ingredient THC — which remains prohibited, or at least highly
regulated by the majority of world governments — as “the potential is
enormous.”

Pharmacologists will also need to compare the therapeutic potency of CBD
from *Trema micanthra* to that of cannabis- or hemp-derived CBD — after
all, it “might not work as well, or at all,” Dr. Moura Neto noted in the
report.

Global hemp-derived CBD sales amounted to nearly $5 billion last year and
could grow to more than $47 billion by 2028, the report said, and the
ability to source commercially viable CBD from a non-regulated source could
quickly become a game changer for the industry.