Effects of steam sterilization on reduction of fungal colony forming units, cannabinoids and terpene levels in medical cannabis inflorescences

Abstract Medical cannabis (MC) production is a rapidly expanding industry. Over the past ten years, many additional phytocannabinoids have been discovered and used for different purposes. MC was reported beneficial for the treatment of a variety of clinical conditions such as analgesia, multiple scl...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Shachar Jerushalmi, Marcel Maymon, Aviv Dombrovsky, Rafi Regev, Ze’ev Schmilovitch, Dvora Namdar, Nurit Shalev, Hinanit Koltai, Stanley Freeman
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b45d2e5c5a2e4b26a9f6022d4ab12c15
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:b45d2e5c5a2e4b26a9f6022d4ab12c15
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b45d2e5c5a2e4b26a9f6022d4ab12c152021-12-02T16:14:46ZEffects of steam sterilization on reduction of fungal colony forming units, cannabinoids and terpene levels in medical cannabis inflorescences10.1038/s41598-021-93264-y2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/b45d2e5c5a2e4b26a9f6022d4ab12c152021-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93264-yhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Medical cannabis (MC) production is a rapidly expanding industry. Over the past ten years, many additional phytocannabinoids have been discovered and used for different purposes. MC was reported beneficial for the treatment of a variety of clinical conditions such as analgesia, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy, glaucoma, Parkinson disease and more. Yet, there is still a major lack of research and knowledge related to MC plant diseases, both at the pre- and postharvest stages. Many of the fungi that infect MC, such as Aspergillus and Penicillium spp., are capable of producing mycotoxins that are carcinogenic, or otherwise harmful when consumed, and especially by those patients who suffer from a weakened immune system, causing invasive contamination in humans. Therefore, there are strict limits regarding the permitted levels of fungal colony forming units (CFU) in commercial MC inflorescences. Furthermore, the strict regulation on pesticide appliance application in MC cultivation exacerbates the problem. In order to meet the permitted CFU limit levels, there is a need for pesticide-free postharvest treatments relying on natural non-chemical methods. Thus, a decontamination approach is required that will not damage or significantly alter the chemical composition of the plant product. In this research, a new method for sterilization of MC inflorescences for reduction of fungal contaminantstes was assessed, without affecting the composition of plant secondary metabolites. Inflorescences were exposed to short pulses of steam (10, 15 and 20 s exposure) and CFU levels and plant chemical compositions, pre- and post-treatment, were evaluated. Steam treatments were very effective in reducing fungal colonization to below detection limits. The effect of these treatments on terpene profiles was minor, resulting mainly in the detection of certain terpenes that were not present in the untreated control. Steaming decreased cannabinoid concentrations as the treatment prolonged, although insignificantly. These results indicate that the steam sterilization method at the tested exposure periods was very effective in reducing CFU levels while preserving the initial molecular biochemical composition of the treated inflorescences.Shachar JerushalmiMarcel MaymonAviv DombrovskyRafi RegevZe’ev SchmilovitchDvora NamdarNurit ShalevHinanit KoltaiStanley FreemanNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Shachar Jerushalmi Marcel Maymon Aviv Dombrovsky Rafi Regev Ze’ev Schmilovitch Dvora Namdar Nurit Shalev Hinanit Koltai Stanley Freeman Effects of steam sterilization on reduction of fungal colony forming units, cannabinoids and terpene levels in medical cannabis inflorescences
description	Abstract Medical cannabis (MC) production is a rapidly expanding industry. Over the past ten years, many additional phytocannabinoids have been discovered and used for different purposes. MC was reported beneficial for the treatment of a variety of clinical conditions such as analgesia, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy, glaucoma, Parkinson disease and more. Yet, there is still a major lack of research and knowledge related to MC plant diseases, both at the pre- and postharvest stages. Many of the fungi that infect MC, such as Aspergillus and Penicillium spp., are capable of producing mycotoxins that are carcinogenic, or otherwise harmful when consumed, and especially by those patients who suffer from a weakened immune system, causing invasive contamination in humans. Therefore, there are strict limits regarding the permitted levels of fungal colony forming units (CFU) in commercial MC inflorescences. Furthermore, the strict regulation on pesticide appliance application in MC cultivation exacerbates the problem. In order to meet the permitted CFU limit levels, there is a need for pesticide-free postharvest treatments relying on natural non-chemical methods. Thus, a decontamination approach is required that will not damage or significantly alter the chemical composition of the plant product. In this research, a new method for sterilization of MC inflorescences for reduction of fungal contaminantstes was assessed, without affecting the composition of plant secondary metabolites. Inflorescences were exposed to short pulses of steam (10, 15 and 20 s exposure) and CFU levels and plant chemical compositions, pre- and post-treatment, were evaluated. Steam treatments were very effective in reducing fungal colonization to below detection limits. The effect of these treatments on terpene profiles was minor, resulting mainly in the detection of certain terpenes that were not present in the untreated control. Steaming decreased cannabinoid concentrations as the treatment prolonged, although insignificantly. These results indicate that the steam sterilization method at the tested exposure periods was very effective in reducing CFU levels while preserving the initial molecular biochemical composition of the treated inflorescences.
format	article
author	Shachar Jerushalmi Marcel Maymon Aviv Dombrovsky Rafi Regev Ze’ev Schmilovitch Dvora Namdar Nurit Shalev Hinanit Koltai Stanley Freeman
author_facet	Shachar Jerushalmi Marcel Maymon Aviv Dombrovsky Rafi Regev Ze’ev Schmilovitch Dvora Namdar Nurit Shalev Hinanit Koltai Stanley Freeman
author_sort	Shachar Jerushalmi
title	Effects of steam sterilization on reduction of fungal colony forming units, cannabinoids and terpene levels in medical cannabis inflorescences
title_short	Effects of steam sterilization on reduction of fungal colony forming units, cannabinoids and terpene levels in medical cannabis inflorescences
title_full	Effects of steam sterilization on reduction of fungal colony forming units, cannabinoids and terpene levels in medical cannabis inflorescences
title_fullStr	Effects of steam sterilization on reduction of fungal colony forming units, cannabinoids and terpene levels in medical cannabis inflorescences
title_full_unstemmed	Effects of steam sterilization on reduction of fungal colony forming units, cannabinoids and terpene levels in medical cannabis inflorescences
title_sort	effects of steam sterilization on reduction of fungal colony forming units, cannabinoids and terpene levels in medical cannabis inflorescences
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/b45d2e5c5a2e4b26a9f6022d4ab12c15
work_keys_str_mv	AT shacharjerushalmi effectsofsteamsterilizationonreductionoffungalcolonyformingunitscannabinoidsandterpenelevelsinmedicalcannabisinflorescences AT marcelmaymon effectsofsteamsterilizationonreductionoffungalcolonyformingunitscannabinoidsandterpenelevelsinmedicalcannabisinflorescences AT avivdombrovsky effectsofsteamsterilizationonreductionoffungalcolonyformingunitscannabinoidsandterpenelevelsinmedicalcannabisinflorescences AT rafiregev effectsofsteamsterilizationonreductionoffungalcolonyformingunitscannabinoidsandterpenelevelsinmedicalcannabisinflorescences AT zeevschmilovitch effectsofsteamsterilizationonreductionoffungalcolonyformingunitscannabinoidsandterpenelevelsinmedicalcannabisinflorescences AT dvoranamdar effectsofsteamsterilizationonreductionoffungalcolonyformingunitscannabinoidsandterpenelevelsinmedicalcannabisinflorescences AT nuritshalev effectsofsteamsterilizationonreductionoffungalcolonyformingunitscannabinoidsandterpenelevelsinmedicalcannabisinflorescences AT hinanitkoltai effectsofsteamsterilizationonreductionoffungalcolonyformingunitscannabinoidsandterpenelevelsinmedicalcannabisinflorescences AT stanleyfreeman effectsofsteamsterilizationonreductionoffungalcolonyformingunitscannabinoidsandterpenelevelsinmedicalcannabisinflorescences
_version_	1718384313601359872

Effects of steam sterilization on reduction of fungal colony forming units, cannabinoids and terpene levels in medical cannabis inflorescences

Ejemplares similares