Health-Promoting Opportunities of Hemp Hull: The Potential of Bioactive Compounds

Abstract

Hemp hull is the outer coat of the hemp seed, derived from the plant Cannabis sativa L., Cannabaceae. While much attention has been paid to hemp seed for its oil, protein and micronutrient content, far less attention has been given to hemp hull, a side stream of hemp processing. Hemp hull is a source of bioactive compounds, dietary fiber, minerals as well as protein, lipids and carbohydrates. Of note, two bioactive compounds, n-trans-caffeoyltyramine and n-trans-feruloyltyramine have been identified in hemp hull as key bioactive compounds that support gut health, liver function and other physiological processes. Both of these compounds were identified as agonists of the transcription factor, hepatic nuclear factor-4 alpha which has been implicated in gene expression that governs gut permeability, factors associated with inflammatory bowel diseases, and hepatic lipid homeostasis. Additionally, the dietary fibers in hemp hull have been demonstrated to be novel prebiotics, which may further amplify hemp hull’s effect on gut health and metabolic health. This review article summarizes the nutritional content of hemp hull, explores the physiological effects of bioactive compounds found in hemp hull, and identifies opportunities for further research on hemp hull for human health benefit.

Keywords:

• Bioactive compound
• dietary fiber
• hemp hull
• n-trans-caffeoyltyramine and n-trans-feruloyltyramine

Acknowledgements

BJWvK, SK, and MLS developed the concept for the paper. MLS conducted the literature search. MLS and SK wrote the paper. BJWvK, SK, LC, and MLS reviewed and edited the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contribution

BJWvK, SK, LC are employees of Brightseed. MLS is an adjunct faculty member at Saybrook University and a consultant employed at Growing Brilliance LLC.

Data availability statement

No novel data were presented in this paper. All content was referenced from previously published sources. See Reference list for sources.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported financially, via author salaries and contracted services, by Brightseed.

Notes on contributors

B. Jan-Willem van Klinken

B. Jan-Willem van Klinken is Senior Vice President, Medical & Scientific Affairs at Brightseed, a biosciences company and creator of Forager®, a computational platform using systems biology and machine learning to illuminate the connections between nature and human health. Jan-Willem comes from GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer where he managed global and regional Medical Affairs for dietary supplements, and over the counter pharmaceuticals for digestive health. Before that, he was a Nutrition R & D leader at PepsiCo and Unilever. Jan-Willem holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of Amsterdam, NL – where he also trained as a M.D. – and he holds a M.S. in Human Nutrition from Columbia University, New York. he also serves as trustee to the ASNF (American Society for Nutrition) and is member of the ILSI scientific advisory board.

Maria L. Stewart

Maria L. Stewart has a PhD and MS in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Minnesota. She is currently Adjunct Faculty in the Integrative and Functional Nutrition Department at Saybrook University. She is founder and principal of Growing Brilliance LLC, via which she provides scientific writing and grant writing services to clients in the food, beverage, supplements, and agriculture sectors. Maria has held positions in the food industry, leading nutritional ingredient innovation, at dsm-firmenich and Ingredion Incorporated. She was a tenured faculty member in the department of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa until moving to her roles in industry. Maria also co-owns Gorgeous Goat Creamery, a regenerative goat dairy in western New Jersey.

Swati Kalgaonkar

Swati Kalgaonkar has a PhD in Nutritional Science from University of California, Davis and a post-doctoral fellowship in Nutritional Endocrinology from UC Davis Internal Medicine. She is Director, Medical & Scientific Affairs at Brightseed. Areas of research and communication in her portfolio include plant-based bioactive solutions for skin health, gut health, immune health, mental wellbeing & cognitive health, and healthy aging with an emphasis on cardiometabolic health and quality of life. Prior to Brightseed, Swati Kalgaonkar headed the Nutrition Research Program at the Almond Board of California, one of the largest US commodity boards and before that she worked as part of Medical & Scientific Affairs at GlaxoSmithKline.

Lee Chae

Lee Chae is a computational and molecular biologist who oversees Brightseed’s cutting-edge plant discovery technology (Forager® artificial intelligence). He’s a seasoned R & D technology developer and has designed advanced discovery methodologies for food technology, agricultural biotech, biomedicine, and synthetic biology. He has been a principal scientist of multiple discoveries, including the machine-learning-driven discovery of novel nutritional bio-actives in plants and computationally guided identification of plant-based proteins for food. He received his Ph.D. in Plant Biology, Computational, and Genomic Biology at UC Berkeley, where he was also a founding member of the Quantitative Biosciences Institute, and performed his post-doctoral training at the Carnegie Institution at Stanford University.