Cannabinoid accumulation in hemp depends on ROS generation and interlinked with morpho-physiological acclimation and plasticity under indoor LED environment

Md Jahirul Islam; Byeong Ryeol Ryu; Md Hafizur Rahman; Md Soyel Rana; Eun Ju Cheong; Myeong-Hyeon Wang; Jung-Dae Lim; Mohammad Anwar Hossain; Young-Seok Lim

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.984410

Cannabinoid accumulation in hemp depends on ROS generation and interlinked with morpho-physiological acclimation and plasticity under indoor LED environment

Front Plant Sci. 2022 Oct 5:13:984410. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.984410. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bio-Health Convergence, College of Biomedical Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, South Korea.
² Physiology and Sugar Chemistry Division, Bangladesh Sugarcrop Research Institute, Pabna, Bangladesh.
³ Division of Forest Science, College of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Herbal Medicine Resource, Kangwon National University, Samcheok, South Korea.
⁵ Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Manipulation of growth and development of cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) has received considerable interest by the scientific community due to its high value in medicinal and recreational use worldwide. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of LED spectral changes on reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cannabinoid accumulation by provoking growth, pigmentation, photosynthesis, and secondary metabolites production of cannabis grown in an indoor environment. After three weeks of vegetative growth under greenhouse condition, plants were further grown for 90 days in a plant factory treated with 4 LED light compositions with a canopy-level photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 300 µmol m^-2 s^-1 for 16 h. Photosynthetic pigments and photosynthetic rate were linearly increased up to 60 days and then sharply decreased which was found most prominent in L3: MB 240 (Red 85% + Blue 15%) and L4: PF 240 (Red 70% + Blue 30%) LED light compositions. A high concentration of H₂O₂ was also observed in L3 and L4 treatments which provoked lipid peroxidation in later growth stage. In addition, higher accumulation of cannabinoid was observed under L4 treatment in most cases. It is also evident that higher ROS created a cellular stress in plant as indicated by higher osmolyte synthesis and enzyme activity which initiate quick maturation along with higher cannabinoids accumulation in cannabis plant. Therefore, it can be concluded that ROS metabolism has a crucial role in morpho-physiological acclimation and cannabinoid accumulation in hemp plants. The findings of this study provide further insight on the use of LED light to maximize the production of cannabinoid.

Keywords: LED light composition; cannabinoid accumulation; cannabis; cellular stress; reactive oxygen species.