We caught up with Cindy Bryant from Demetrix to discuss all things rare cannabinoids and their impressive properties, exciting new research, the beauty of fermentation, and rising to meet the growing consumer demand for transparent, sustainable products that deliver results.
1. Demetrix is dedicated to the ongoing research of cannabinoids, demonstrating its efficacy, and determining how these ingredients can best serve a wide range of personal care products for the ever-decerning marketplace. Why is Demetrix so passionate about cannabinoids?
At Demetrix, we see cannabinoids as a very rare, exciting opportunity. This is an entire class of natural compounds that are known to have interesting health benefits. However, they have never been researched and made available to help people live healthier, happier lives. This speaks directly to the primary focus of our company, helping improve lives through the sustainable access of bioactives.
Our investment in rare cannabinoid research shows strong promise for their application in many key consumer areas of concern, such as inflammation and anti-microbial applications, and remediating the long terms effects of UV exposure. We are just at the beginning of understanding the full potential of these efficacious bioactives.
2. Tell us about Demetrix’s exciting commercial manufacturing developments with cannabigerol.
Cannabigerol, or CBG as it is commonly called, is the first of many rare cannabinoids we are planning to bring to market. The plant produces over a hundred unique cannabinoids but only a handful of these are easily extracted from the plant. The remaining are just in too low concentrations to either physically isolate from plant material, or economically, trying to extract them doesn’t make sense. This is where our fermentation technology plays an important role. Our technology can consistently produce an ultra-rare cannabinoid at high purity as easily as it can a more abundant one.
The milestone we are working towards will be a tremendous achievement, not only for our company that was started about 5 years ago, but for the entire industry. We aim to prove that fermentation technology can economically produce high purity cannabinoids at large scale. And by large scale, I mean multiple tonnes per year. This hopefully will be a new, sustainable source of rare cannabinoids that can easily scale to meet global demand.
3. Demetrix’s foundational research proves that cannabigerol (CBG) holds great potential as an active ingredient in skincare, cosmetic and health and wellness products. Can you expand on both the research you have conducted, and the impressive attributes of CBG?
Demetrix is significantly investing in foundational research to understand the potential of each of these rare cannabinoids. What we are finding is that they are unique in the potential benefits they can provide, meaning we have a very rich and deep pool of bioactives.
We’ve assessed several bioactivities of CBG, using in vitro human keratinocytes or fibroblast cultures, and safety, in a sensitization and irritability study with human volunteers. We were able to validate that CBG is a strong anti-inflammatory and caused no adverse reactions, indicating its safety for topical use. We were able to conclude that CBG is a safe bioactive, backed by a scalable and sustainable biomanufacturing process, making it an attractive cannabinoid for novel cosmetics formulations.
4. Your CBG is bio-identical to the CBG found in the Cannabis sativa plant and is of high purity standard, which is difficult to achieve. How do you ensure such a pure product?
That’s the beauty of fermentation production, it is a highly controllable process, unlike mother nature. What is oftentimes overlooked is that the hemp plant produces all 100+ cannabinoids, including THC, which is a controlled substance. It is just that the plant is bred to limit its production of THC and overproduce the cannabinoid of interest. The challenge with this is that the plant can easily deviate from what it is bred to do because of uncontrollable external factors. This can be overwatering, underwatering, pests, light conditions, soil deviations, and many other conditions. This creates supply chain risk for product companies.
Fermentation production uses a highly specialized method that is often completely incapable of producing unwanted impurities, such as terpenes and other cannabinoids. In fact, the Demetrix process for CBG production is completely incapable of making THC and terpenes, eliminating this concern. On top of that, the process is highly controllable, meaning we have minimized external forces that could impact product purity and production volumes. This is why so many consumer products companies prefer to rely on fermentation production sources for their ingredients, for the security in their supply chain.
5. Sustainability and social responsibility have become a big factor across most industries, not excluding personal care. As you work with natural ingredients, how important is sustainability to Demetrix and what does that mean for Demetrix customers?
We have made sustainability Demetrix’s foundation. Our technology was specifically designed to serve as an alternative production source that leaves a lighter footprint on our planet. And we are part of a larger movement: The entire industry is rising to meet the growing consumer demand for clean labelled, sustainable products that deliver results. Demetrix is aiding this effort by bringing access to a new class of bioactives that have demonstrated efficacy and are produced using a technology that uses 340 times less water, 4 times less land, 358 times less carbon dioxide emissions than other plant sources.
You can find Demetrix’s exhibition stand at the upcoming in-cosmetics Global 2022 event, or contact them directly for more information.