Hemp oil definition
Hemp oil can refer to a full-spectrum oil from the Cannabis sativa plant or hemp seed oil, which is oil that comes from just the seeds of the hemp plant. There is very little risk of intoxication from hemp oil as all forms of hemp oil come from food-grain strains of hemp. The authors of a study in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research note that food-grain strains of hemp must contain less than 0. Hemp oil is not the same as cannabidiol CBD oil. The production of CBD oil uses the stalks, leaves, and flowers of the hemp plant, which contain a higher concentration of CBD, another potentially beneficial compound in the plant.
Cannabis Oil vs. Hemp Oil
Industrial hemp is as a class of non-drug Cannabis sativa varieties, and hempseed is technically an achene, or nut. Both the seed and hemp's tall stalk provide significant carbohydrate feedstocks for a wide variety of industrial purposes in several countries. The oil pressed from hempseed, in particular, is a rich source of polyunsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are essential for human health. These same fatty acids in hempseed oil make it a fine drying oil that is used in the production of paints, varnishes, and other coating materials.
Plastic flooring such as linoleum and similar materials have been made from hempseed oil, and other non-food uses of hempseed oil are similar to those of linseed oil flaxseed oil. Flax, of course, also has a long history as a companion species that parallels hemp in the founding of our civilizations. Unfortunately, when one reads the Latin words Cannabis sativa these days, the first thoughts that come to mind may not be of hemp, or its nutritious seed, or useful oil products, or even the durable outer bast stem fiber or the cellulose core from the stalk of this old-world plant.
These lesser-known features of Cannabis were certainly well known to Carl Linneaus when he assigned its name in The words " canvas " and " cannabis ," for example, both derive from similar-sounding words in Greek, Latin, and Arabic for the fabric and the plant from which it is made. The second part of the Linnean binomial, sativa , comes from the Latin word sativus , which means "sown" or "cultivated. The largest obstacle that currently prevents hemp from fully participating in modern industrial agriculture is its botanical association with the drug cannabis.
In fact, the production of THC tetrahydrocannabinol and other cannabinoids is under genetic control, so it would take an ambitious breeding project to convert a hemp variety into a drug variety, much like converting a dachshund into a Doberman pinscher.
In other words, it would be much easier just to start with drug Cannabis seeds, if that were the objective. Ancient Asian mariners and more recent trans-Atlantic voyagers made good use of sturdy canvas sails made from hemp fiber. Fine linens were once made from both flax and hemp, as the fibers from the male hemp plants were well known to produce the finest linens. The oldest known paper from China was made from hemp, and many historical documents have been written and printed on paper made from hemp fibers.
Even today, hemp fibers are found in such common products as tea bags, cigarette papers, and other specialty papers as well as paper currency. The connection between Cannabis and its misuse as a drug gained official traction when the US Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act on June 14, ; the Act included no practical exemption for hemp production. By that time, the United States was already importing most of its hempseed and fiber from countries with cheaper labor, and the timber and paper industries in the United States were completely invested in the Kraft process for making newsprint.
In , commercial wild bird feed was primarily made from hempseed, and hempseed was also pressed for oil used in the manufacture of paints, varnishes, and other coatings. Industrial-scale hemp production mostly continued in the USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and China until modern petroleum products slowly began to replace products previously made from hempseed oil and hemp fiber.
At least in the days of the USSR, hempseed oil for human consumption was called "black oil," because of its high chlorophyll content, which was especially used by those who were too poor to afford butter. Hempseed appears as an ingredient in many spices and ethnic foods from Eastern Europe, India, and most parts of Asia. A fine tofu can be easily made from just hempseed, water, and heat. The Marihuana Tax Act of had very little impact on the use of marijuana as a narcotic in the United States, if for no other reason than the Act did not penalize the possession or use of hemp, cannabis , or marijuana.
It did, though, penalize persons dealing commercially in these products. Thus, the Act effectively brought all industrial hemp production in the United States to a grinding halt by the next year. Subsequently, the United States re-introduced hemp production in for the war effort, after the Japanese had cut off hemp supplies from the Philippines and East India.
After the war, US hemp production was shut down yet again. Petroleum-based polymers quickly replaced hemp and other natural fibers in many common products such as sacks, tarps, and ropes.
In just a short time, a carbohydrate culture based on agriculture quickly shifted into a culture dependent on petroleum-derived hydrocarbons. Since then, hempseed and hemp fiber production have been excluded from the technological developments enjoyed by other industrial crops.
Nor have there been any advances in nutritional research pertaining to hempseed oil. This prohibition on hemp cultivation continues to this day in the United States, even as remarkable advances are being made with medical marijuana.
In Canada marijuana is already available to registered patients for medical purposes. After years of prohibition, hemp cultivation was cautiously restarted there under heavy licensing in With eager markets in both Canada and the United States, hempseed oil and other hempseed food products remain in high demand, and the area devoted to oilseed hemp cultivation in Canada has continued to expand accordingly during this time.
The Finola oilseed variety of hemp continues to form the cornerstone of the Canadian hempseed production because of its short stature average plant height: 1. Hempseed is a rich source of easily digestible protein ca. The remainder consists of dietary fiber, mostly from the hull, various phytosterols, oil-soluble vitamins, and trace minerals Table 1. Aside from being extremely low in saturated fats, hempseed oil is interesting in other ways.
For example, hempseed oil has a higher content of polyunsaturated fatty acids PUFA than most other industrial food oils Table 2. This has been known for quite a long time, as the essential omega-6 linoleic acid n-6 was first identified in hempseed oil as "sativic acid" by German chemists in More recently, presence of omega-3 stearidonic acid SDA, n-3 has been detected in hempseed oil Callaway et al.
Not only are both of the essential fatty acids EFA well represented in hempseed oil, but their direct human metabolic products, GLA and SDA, are too; the latter are not found in any other industrial oilseed crop. As these two fatty acids are already in the oil, this enzymatic step can be bypassed, so they contribute more directly to the downstream production of other omega-6 and omega-3 metabolites.
Perhaps the really good news for consumers is that good-quality cold-pressed hempseed oil has an excellent taste that resembles walnuts and sunflower seeds.
When the seeds are toasted, a savory umami flavor develops somewhere between that of bacon and fried prawns. Moreover, the balance of EFA in hempseed is considerably more nearly optimal than in most other industrial food oils, in terms of having a relatively low omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. In this regard, hempseed oil is more like rapeseed oil also known as canola oil , yet it is still much higher in polyunsaturates. Taken together, these factors at least partly explain a remarkable number of anecdotal benefits from consuming daily hempseed oil, for example, especially marked improvements in skin, hair, and nail quality, as these fatty acids are integral in cell membrane formation and functions at the molecular level.
Studies at the University of Kuopio, Finland, have investigated some of the properties, and particularly the improvements in skin quality for patients that suffer from atopic dermatitis i.
Improvements in strength of both hair and nail thickness are also attributed to daily use of dietary hempseed oil. The high level of PUFA in hempseed oil is certainly a plus for health, but a considerable drawback for deep frying, not only because there is an increased risk of peroxide and trans fat formation, but also because hempseed oil has a relatively low flash point and will burn well once it is ignited.
Also, the shelf life of hempseed oil tends to be rather short, because this high level of unsaturation provides more opportunity for oxidation with atmospheric oxygen. Ideally, as a food, hempseed oil is cold pressed from fresh, clean, good-quality seed and then stored in a cool, dark place before, during, and after processing.
Unfortunately, much of the hempseed oil that is currently available in North America is distributed in plastic containers to reduce the costs of both production and shipping of this niche crop.
Oil purchased in plastic is more susceptible to degradation with time. With a small amount of effort, the interested buyer will typically find hempseed oil in glass bottles on the European markets. To this day, the US government continues to define hemp as the stalks and fiber of the marijuana plant, and has decided not to recognize any of the varieties that are extremely low in drug content.
An analogous situation exists for poppy seed, which is legal in the United States; the seed always contains some measurable amount of morphine, but these amounts are not of sufficient concentration for drug purposes.
Due to the burden of Cannabis prohibition, there has been very little development or innovation in hemp or hempseed production during the last 70 years, and almost no research on hempseed nutrition since its incorporation into Chinese medicine thousands of years ago.
It is, in essence, an orphan crop when we consider the present situation of food production in Europe and North America. While this situation began to change with the reintroduction of hemp to Canadian agriculture in , the subsidy scheme for hemp in the European Union continues to favor the production of hemp fiber and not hempseed. What few results we now have from hempseed research tend to contradict the politically narrow horizon that the United States has offered the world.
Fortunately, hempseed oil and other hempseed food products are legally available in the United States, either from the shelves of some natural food stores or when ordered directly online from Canada.
Viable hempseed, however, remains illegal in the United States. Leaving political rhetoric aside, there is plenty of convincing scientific evidence to show that hempseed is one of the most nutritious products that can be produced by modern industrial agriculture. As a grain, it fits into the mechanized infrastructure without retooling. Apparently, the only remaining change that needs to be made is to convince US policymakers that hemp is not dangerous.
Contact him via email at callaway finola. Callaway, J. Pate, Occurrence of "omega-3" stearidonic acid cis -6,9,12,octadecatetraenoic acid in hemp Cannabis sativa L.
Schwab, I. Harvimaa, P. Halonen, O. Callaway and David W. Edited by Robert A. See a review of the book on page In This Section Previous Next. March Industrial hemp is as a class of non-drug Cannabis sativa varieties, and hempseed is technically an achene, or nut. Our historic foundations were built on the fibers of hemp Ancient Asian mariners and more recent trans-Atlantic voyagers made good use of sturdy canvas sails made from hemp fiber.
Summary To this day, the US government continues to define hemp as the stalks and fiber of the marijuana plant, and has decided not to recognize any of the varieties that are extremely low in drug content.
Hemp oil (hemp seed oil) is oil obtained by pressing hemp seeds. Cold pressed, unrefined hemp oil is dark to clear light green in color, with a nutty flavor. Hemp oil can refer to a full-spectrum oil from the Cannabis sativa plant or hemp seed oil, which is oil that comes from just the seeds of the hemp.
With the recent changes to the Food Standard certain hemp seed products are now permitted for human consumption. It is important to be aware that only the seeds of the hemp plant can be used for human consumption - extracts from the remainder of the plant are considered a drug. In support of this change the Department of Health has amended controls under the Customs Prohibited Imports Regulations PI regulations to allow specific hemp seed and fibre products to be imported without requiring a licence and permit under the import regulation. You may import the following substances without import permission under the PI Regulations:.
When looking at multiple natural oils, there are two you are sure to come across: hemp oil and CBD oil.
To understand how hemp oil products work in the body, you need to first understand the endocannabinoid system ECS , a part of the mammalian central nervous system. The ECS is thought to play a crucial role in many bodily functions, including appetite, sleep, mood, and injury mitigation. When things get out of balance, the ECS steps in to bring order to the chaos, also known as homeostasis.
Are Hemp Oil and CBD Oil the Same Thing?
Compared to whole plant CBD -rich cannabis, industrial hemp grown for fiber or seed is typically low in cannabinoid content. If you live in a state where medical marijuana is legal and available, look for CBD products made from cannabis. Cannabis has been an ally of humankind since before the written word, providing fiber for cordage and cloth, seeds for nutrition, and roots, leaves and flowers for ritual and healing. In the botanical world, there are, broadly speaking, two kinds of cannabis — hemp plants and drug plants. Hemp plants include plants grown for fiber and plants grown for seed oil. The main difference between hemp plants and drug plants is resin content.
Hemp Oil vs CBD Oil: What is the Difference?
This story appears in the May issue of Green Entrepreneur. This past December, the passage of the Farm Bill may have sparked a new oil boom. The news heated up the already hot CBD oil market because CBD, the medicinal, nonpsychoactive compound in marijuana, is also found in hemp. In other words, CBD oil, as long as you derive it from hemp, is legal everywhere. But is it? Does this mean an explosion of new CBD products? And how is hemp seed oil different than CBD oil? Hemp seed oil is extracted from the seeds and used as a cooking oil, and in lotions and soaps. It contains no CBD or other cannabinoids. But it can also be derived from a marijuana plant.
Consumers looking to explore the potential benefits that cannabidiol CBD promises are often confronted with some confusion when it comes to terminology. Often housed in 1-ounce glass bottles, CBD oil products can list a variety of names on the label.
CBD is just something that I am very happy about that I can be a part of. I mean imagine it being 30 years ago when no one knew much about it.
Hemp Oil vs. CBD Oil: What's the Difference?
Industrial hemp is as a class of non-drug Cannabis sativa varieties, and hempseed is technically an achene, or nut. Both the seed and hemp's tall stalk provide significant carbohydrate feedstocks for a wide variety of industrial purposes in several countries. The oil pressed from hempseed, in particular, is a rich source of polyunsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are essential for human health. These same fatty acids in hempseed oil make it a fine drying oil that is used in the production of paints, varnishes, and other coating materials. Plastic flooring such as linoleum and similar materials have been made from hempseed oil, and other non-food uses of hempseed oil are similar to those of linseed oil flaxseed oil. Flax, of course, also has a long history as a companion species that parallels hemp in the founding of our civilizations. Unfortunately, when one reads the Latin words Cannabis sativa these days, the first thoughts that come to mind may not be of hemp, or its nutritious seed, or useful oil products, or even the durable outer bast stem fiber or the cellulose core from the stalk of this old-world plant. These lesser-known features of Cannabis were certainly well known to Carl Linneaus when he assigned its name in The words " canvas " and " cannabis ," for example, both derive from similar-sounding words in Greek, Latin, and Arabic for the fabric and the plant from which it is made. The second part of the Linnean binomial, sativa , comes from the Latin word sativus , which means "sown" or "cultivated. The largest obstacle that currently prevents hemp from fully participating in modern industrial agriculture is its botanical association with the drug cannabis.
Hempseed oil in a nutshell
Hemp oil hemp seed oil is oil obtained by pressing hemp seeds. Cold pressed, unrefined hemp oil is dark to clear light green in color, with a nutty flavor. The darker the color, the grassier the flavour. It should not be confused with hash oil , a tetrahydrocannabinol -containing oil made from the Cannabis flower. Refined hemp seed oil is clear and colorless, with little flavor. It is primarily used in body care products. Industrial hemp seed oil is used in lubricants, paints, inks, fuel, and plastics. Hemp seed oil is used in the production of soaps, shampoos and detergents. The oil has a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 essential fatty acids.