Research and development of cultivation methods of Cannabis sativa L. to maximize the yiel of non-THC bioactive compounds of nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical interest.

C. sativa has been used for a long time to obtain food, fiber and as a medicinal and psychoactive plant. Today the nutraceutical potential of C. sativa is being increasingly reappraised; however, C. sativa roots remain poorly studied, despite citations in the scientific literature. To facilitate roots harvesting and processing, aeroponic (AP) and aeroponic elicited cultures (AEP), have been set up and compared to soil-cultivated plant (SP): interestingly a considerable overgrowth of the plants - particularly of roots - and a significant increase (up to 20-fold in the case of β-sitosterol) in the total content of the above roots’ bioactive molecules have been observed in AP and AEP. Aeroponics, an easy, standardized, free-of-contaminant cultivation technique, allows an ease harvesting/processing of roots along with a greater production of their secondary bioactive metabolites which could be utilized in the formulation of health promoting and health care products. We identified and quantified the presence of valuable bioactives in the extracts of C. sativa aeroponic roots (APEX), namely β-sitosterol (ST), friedelin (FR), epi-friedelanol (EFR), stigmasterol and campesterol. The biological activity of APEX and its major components (ST, FR and, EFR) has been evaluated focusing on the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The antioxidant activity has been determined in either acellular (DPPH and Fe2+ chelation effect) or cellular settings (cyto- and geno-protection in H2O2-treated cells). As to the anti-inflammatory activity, the mRNA inflammatory markers expression and IL-6 levels in LPS-stimulated U937 cells have been studied. The APEX antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities have been further investigated from the functional point of view through the wound healing assay. Here we report that APEX and its main components showed significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, which render attractive their exploitation as natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents, also by virtue of the technical and economic advantages of aeroponic cultivation.