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A small endemic plant that’s grown in our wilderness for millions of years has been shown to have cannabis-like properties.
Scientists say wairuakohu could have exciting therapeutic potential because it has similar compounds to medicinal cannabis, but not the same side effects.
They warn “bio-pirates” to not go looking for the plant: consuming it raw won’t get people high or offer health benefits.
A tiny plant found only in remote parts of New Zealand has been revealed to have cannabis-like properties – with exciting potential for new homegrown health products and exports.
In a just-published study, scientists report the plant bears significant concentrations of compounds similar to two key ones found in cannabis:THC and CBD.
The compounds are PET – otherwise only found in a species of liverworts in Japan – and PTD - which hasn’t been discovered in nature before.
The scientists behind the discovery say wairuakohu – an endemic type of liverwort that has grown in our wilderness for millions of years – won’t get people high, and warn “bio-pirates” not to go hunting and harvesting it.
Scientists in an iwi-led research consortium have discovered that a small plant endemic to New Zealand, wairuakohu, has similar chemical properties to cannabis, which may create opportunities for new health products. Photo / Plant and Food Research
“Very few plants that we know of make these type of compounds – and this one makes both a THC-like compound and CBD-like one,” Plant and Food Research scientist Dr Richard Espley said.
“That’s the critical thing, as CBD is a major constituent for medicinal cannabis.”
The new findings stem from a seven-year project led by iwi Te Kawerau a Maki, Ngāti Hauā and Ngāti Hinerangi, and involving Rua Bioscience Ltd, IO Ltd and Plant and Food Research.
Manu Caddie, who set up the consortium around the same time as he co-founded pharmaceutical company Rua Bioscience, said the research had also shown the plant could be grown indoors without affecting its special compounds.
In a just-published study, scientists report the plant wairuakohu bears significant concentrations of compounds similar to two key ones found in cannabis: THC and CBD. Photo / Plant and Food Research
He pointed out its compounds didn’t have the same psychoactive side effects as THC – and were found in quantities too low to have therapeutic benefits from consuming it raw.
“There is no benefit to harvesting the plant in the wild, and it will easily become endangered if not appropriately managed,” he said.
“Anyone who takes plants or fungi from the forest without permission from the relevant kaitiaki is a bio-pirate and should be identified as such.”
Wairuakohu – viewed here with a microscope – is a small liverwort growing in remote locations around the country. Photo / Plant and Food Research
More research was planned to help conserve the plant – and to investigate new opportunities for its cultivation and use.
Medicinal cannabis, which Rua Bioscience focuses on, has been projected to become a crop worth more than $230 million to New Zealand’s economy within a decade.
Whether the slower-growing wairuakohu could have similar potential wasn’t yet clear.
Manu Caddie co-founded Rua Bioscience and the wairuakohu research consortium
Companies around the world have already been lodging patent applications for PET, given its potentially lucrative prospects of cannabis-like health benefits with fewer side effects.
However, Espley said drug discovery was difficult and expensive.
“So far, the signs [with wairuakohu] are reasonably promising – but it’s very early days.”
It also highlighted the importance of learning more about the abundance of native plant life around us, and what other secrets might lie waiting to be uncovered.
“There might be a heap of other things that we could be exploring.”
Jamie Morton is a specialist in science and environmental reporting. He joined the Herald in 2011 and writes about everything from conservation and climate change to natural hazards and new technology.
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