Morpho-biochemical evaluation of hemp plants (Cannabis sativa L.) grown on metal-contaminated soils

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a crop of commercial interest with promising characteristics for phytotechnologies (rapid growth, high genetic variability, wide root system); due to the multiple nonfood uses it can offer a good opportunity to integrate soil recovery with the cultivation of a commercially exploitable resource. Among the wide range of uses, several applications can be envisaged for hemp plants obtained from phytoremediation: fibres could be commercialised as insulating or composite material, the whole stem can be converted into paper for packaging industry and seeds represent a source of oil for biofuel production. The hemp potential for phytotechnologies has been poorly explored; most studies have been focused on its behaviour vs heavy metals (Ahmad et al.,2015; Citterio et al., 2003) while few studies involved organic contaminants such as benzopyrene (Campbell et al., 2002) and radio-compounds (Vandenhove et al., 2005). To study the potential of hemp plants to be grown in heavy metal contaminated soils, possibly exploiting their phyto-remediaton/-stabilisation properties, an ex situ experiment with potted plants in greenhouse was carried out.