Dottorato in MANAGEMENT, BANKING AND COMMODITY SCIENCES

Titolo della tesi: Hemp food products: Safety, Quality and Sustainability assessment

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a very useful plant. It has been traditionally cultivated around the world as a source of textile fiber, but nowadays, there are a wide-ranging of potential applications such as green building, cosmetic, food and phytoremediation. The industrial hemp products market shows a great growth, especially in Europe and North America. In Italy the Law December 2nd 2016, n. 242, provides for the promotion of cultivation and agro-industrial supply chain of industrial hemp “as a crop capable of contributing to the reduction of the environmental impact in agriculture, to the reduction of the consumption of soil, desertification and to the loss of biodiversity, as well as a crop to be used which possible substitute for surplus crops and as rotation crop”. Industrial hemp is characterized by low content (<0.2%) of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive constituent of Cannabis (illegal in several Countries). Hemp seeds are then considered edible. They have high nutritional value (due to protein, lipids and fiber content) and several applications (oils, flours, etc.). This research proposes the assessment of agri-food supply chain of industrial hemp. Food Quality and Food Safety of different hemp products were evaluated by the selection of the best methods and molecular markers. Furthermore, the Life Cycle Assessment methodology was used to evaluate the three aspects of sustainability: environmental, economic and social.