Chapter 21
Chemical and Physical Elicitation
for Enhanced Cannabinoid
Production in Cannabis
Jonathan Gorelick and Nirit Bernstein
Abstract Of the many medicinal plants with therapeutic potential,Cannabis sativa
is, by far, the most promising in the near future for large scale utilization. However,
the inherent chemical variability of plant based medicines must be addressed,
before cannabis can be incorporated into modern medical practices. This chemical
variability can only be controlled and potentially optimized if the underlying causes
of the production of therapeutic compounds in cannabis is adequately understood.
Many of the medically useful compounds produced by plants are the result of the
plant stress response. Although not completely clear, there is a significant body of
evidence suggesting a similar role for cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are implicating
in both, biotic and abiotic stresses, including thermal, nutrient, and water stress,
photoradiation, as well as bacterial and fungal pathogens. This chapter will explore
the possible ecological roles of cannabinoids in cannabis and the potential uti-
lization of these roles via biotic or abiotic elicitors.
21.1 Introduction
Plants have been an important part of medicine throughout human history.
Although there are many examples of plant based drugs incorporated into main-
stream medicine, such as digoxin from digitalis and opiates from opium, most
herbal remedies have remained relegated to alternative medicine. In recent years,
the use of herbal medicines has steadily increased worldwide (Mosihuzzaman
2012 ). With increasing demand come growing concerns about the safety and effi-
cacy of herbal medicines. Although the potential for medicinal plants seems almost
J. Gorelick (&)
Judea Regional Research and Development Center, Kiryat Arba, Israel
e-mail: [email protected]
N. Bernstein (&)
Institute of Soil Water and Environmental Sciences,
Volcani Center, POB 6, 50-250 Bet-Dagan, Israel
e-mail: [email protected]
©Springer International Publishing AG 2017
S. Chandra et al. (eds.), Cannabis sativaL. - Botany and Biotechnology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-54564-6_21
439