The Future of Hemp in the Food Industry

In recent years, as more U.S. states legalize Cannabis sativa, the plant and products derived from it have received ever-increasing attention for medical and recreational uses.
Importantly this has also created broader exploration of hempseed as a resource for food, extracted secondary metabolites for pharmaceuticals, flavors and essences and materials for textiles and construction products.
There is increasing recognition of industrial hemp plants products as having many potential uses stimulating huge commercial interests and research activities.
Paul Hughes will share insights about how hempseed can be a potentially valuable nutritional resource. It’s played this role for thousands of years in Old World cultures but a lack of contemporary research, including food product and process development, has hampered progress.
Hempseed’s unique composition - protein, fiber, minerals and vitamins - make it a relevant avenue of investigation. In particular, there are exceptionally high levels of the amino acid arginine, a source of the vasodilator nitric oxide making it effective at reducing blood pressure.
Hempseed offers tantalizing opportunities as a food ingredient and for the production of nutritional supplements. Working within OSU’s Global Hemp Innovation Center is an essential means of bringing these opportunities to life since success will be dependent on the practical realities of hemp as a viable agricultural crop.