Hemp Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP) has conducted research on hemp plants for many years and some new findings from its studies have indicated that commitment was worthwhile.
On Tuesday, the company announced that it had raised a hemp cultivar with a 23.4 per cent concentration of complete protein in its large fan leaves.
The company says that it had known for some time that hemp seeds were high in complete protein and contained all nine essential amino acids that the human body cannot produce, but harvesting those seeds requires an entire growing season followed by significant labour involved in processing them.
Hemp Inc. claims the fan leaves on its new cultivar can be harvested on a daily basis and used in cooking recipes for people and that they are immensely beneficial for animal feed rather than inferior soybean alternatives that have been widely used.
Soybeans only contain about 18.9 per cent complete protein and are considered to have the highest source of it in the plant world, according to Hemp Inc. The company also says they are inferior to its new cultivar’s hemp leaves because soybeans have compounds that decrease bioavailability.
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Fan leaves were once considered to be waste material and they can be harvested consistently throughout the growing season. Hemp Inc. says the dried or fresh leaves from its cultivar can make a high-grade protein powder for cooking with and that harvesting the leaves will not have a negative impact on the plants’ CBD flower yield.
The company says the global protein supplement market was worth US$20.47 billion at the end of last year and is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5 per cent between now and the end of the decade.
Hemp Inc. also says the alternative animal feed market in the U.S. is anticipated to be valued at US$2.85 billion by 2027 with a CAGR of 7.5 per cent between now and then.
The 85,000-square-foot hemp processing facility owned by the company in Spring Hope, North Carolina is one the largest in North America.
