Processing of Cannabis waste residue to enable use towards prebiotic food ingredient applications

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The proposal aims to evaluate the potential prebiotic capacity of the high fiber composition of cannabis plantwaste material that is generated after THC and cannabinoids have been extracted. Prebiotic ingredients arecompounds that are fermented, which promotes gut health by enhancing the composition and activity ofprobiotic bacteria such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. Since cannabis waste material needs to be disposed ofaccording to environmental regulations, the development of a prebiotic food ingredient can be a value addedproduct that helps to circumvent the waste disposal cost. A research challenge is that cannabis fibre is primarilyinsoluble whereas prebiotic properties are associated with soluble fibre. The proposal will evaluate the efficacyof a food processing technique called micronization as an innovative approach to solubilize cannabis fiber bydecreasing its particle size so that it can be accessible to probiotic bacteria thereby producing prebioticproperties. Micronization could thus allow the development of a prebiotic food ingredient from cannabis wasteplant material.