Pretreatment and Fiber Content Analysis of Cannabis sativa L.

Authors: Ariella Yonaty, Barnabas Gikonyo, Drew Allocco

SUNY Campus: SUNY Geneseo

Presentation Type: Poster

Location: Old Union Hall

Presentation #: 56

Timeslot: Session A 9:00-10:00 AM

Abstract: Hemp and marijuana, both subspecies of Cannabis sativa L. are often generalized into one group but are very different in chemical constituent levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Hemp contains only 0.3% THC, compared to marijuana which contains 17.1% THC. This makes hemp a useful and safe consumer crop differing from its co-species, which is harvested for psychoactive and pharmaceutical reasons. Comparing hemp to other crops (corn, beets, etc.), this is one of the fastest growing plants and its refined products have incredible commercial value, including biofuels, biodegradable plastics, textiles, dietary supplements, paper, clothing, and much more. Additionally, Construction and manufacturing applications have been seen to include hemp to strengthen their composite products. Its status as a high yielding, sustainable, and environmentally friendly crop due to its various qualities gives it the potential to yield valuable raw materials for a large number of applications. The research evaluates the pretreatment of hemp along with the comparative analysis of the fiber content with the goal of determining the suitability and the potential use of ionic liquid-based pretreatment (1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride) for the breakdown of hemp lignocellulosic biomass as presented and discussed in the following sections.