
The Antibacterial Discovery Nobody Talked About: How Thailand Proved Cannabinoids Kill Superbugs
Last night, I told you about a discovery in Brazil that surprised the scientific community. Researchers found CBD—cannabidiol—in a common South American shrub called Trema micrantha. A plant that isn’t cannabis. A plant that grows wild across Brazil like a weed. The discovery made headlines. Legal alternatives to cannabis. New CBD sources for countries with restrictive regulations. A botanical workaround for hemp prohibition. Exciting stuff, especially for the convergent evolution angle—nature making the same compound in completely unrelated plant species, separated by millions of years. But while everyone was focused on Brazil’s preliminary findings, a more significant study sat quietly in a peer-reviewed journal, published two years earlier. Thailand. 2021. Same plant genus. Same cannabinoids. But the Thai researchers didn’t stop at chemical analysis. They tested the extracts against multidrug-resistant bacteria. And they worked. This is the story nobody talked about. The Thailand Study: What They Actually Did A team of researchers from multiple Thai universities—Thammasat University, Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, and Silpakorn University—collaborated on a comprehensive study of Trema orientalis. Same genus as the Brazilian discovery. Different species. Closely related to cannabis through phylogenetic analysis. Trema orientalis grows throughout tropical Asia. Common pioneer species—one of the first plants to colonize disturbed soil. Shows up uninvited in agricultural areas, forest edges, and beach forests. The researchers collected nine specimens from three distinct floristic regions in Thailand: Northern Thailand: Agricultural areas and forest edges in Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, and Phetchabun provinces. Southeastern Thailand: Beach forests in Chanthaburi, Rayong, and Trat provinces along the coast. Southern (Peninsular) Thailand: Agricultural and disturbed areas in Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Songkhla provinces. They specifically collected mature inflorescences—the flowers—during the flowering period from November 2019 to February 2020. Why flowers? Because in the cannabis family (Cannabaceae), cannabinoids concentrate in the flower structures, particularly in trichomes on the surface. The methodology was rigorous. Air-dried without sunlight. Ground into powder. Macerated in methanol for 10 days. Extracted and partitioned into hydrophilic and lipophilic fractions. The lipophilic fraction was further separated using column chromatography with gradient elution. Then analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using internal cannabinoid standards for precise identification. This wasn’t casual exploration. This was systematic, reproducible, scientifically rigorous analysis. Published in PeerJ, a respected peer-reviewed journal, in May 2021. And here’s what they found. The Cannabinoid Profile: CBN Takes the Lead All nine specimens, across all three regions, contained cannabinoids. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), CBD (cannabidiol), and CBN (cannabinol) appeared in varying concentrations depending on geographic location and growing conditions. But one cannabinoid dominated: CBN. Northern Thailand samples: CBN: up to 357.46 mg/kg THC: up to 89.96 mg/kg CBD: not detected Southeastern Thailand samples (coastal): CBN: 50-55 mg/kg THC: not detected CBD: not detected Southern Thailand samples: CBN: up to 140.19 mg/kg THC: up to 38.13 mg/kg CBD: up to 5.22 mg/kg This is unusual. In cannabis, CBN is typically a minor cannabinoid. It forms when THC degrades through oxidation or aging. You find elevated CBN in old cannabis, stored products, material exposed to light and air. But in Trema orientalis, CBN appears to be the primary cannabinoid the plant actively produces. Not a degradation product. A deliberate biosynthetic output. Why would the plant prioritize CBN over CBD or THC? The answer became clear when they tested antibacterial activity. Testing Against Superbugs: The Part Everyone Missed The Thai researchers obtained four bacterial strains from the Department of Medical Science, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. Not random bacteria. WHO priority pathogens—the multidrug-resistant superbugs that cause serious infections and resist standard antibiotics: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 43300: Methicillin-resistant (MRSA). One of the most notorious hospital-acquired infection agents. Causes skin infections, pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and surgical site infections. Resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics including methicillin, oxacillin, and amoxicillin. Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923: Standard strain for comparison. Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853: Gram-negative bacteria that causes pneumonia, particularly in hospital settings and immunocompromised patients. Produces AmpC β-lactamase—an enzyme that breaks down antibiotics. Naturally resistant to many drug classes. Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606: Notorious for hospital-acquired infections. Causes pneumonia, bloodstream infections, wound infections, and meningitis. Extremely drug-resistant strains have emerged globally. Major problem in intensive care units. These are the bacteria that make infectious disease doctors nervous. The ones developing resistance faster than we develop new antibiotics. The researchers took the cannabinoid-containing fraction (labeled S3 in their study) and tested it using two methods: Disk diffusion assay: Paper disks soaked in extract, placed on bacterial cultures. If the extract inhibits growth, a clear zone appears around the disk. Broth microdilution assay: Serial dilutions to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)—the lowest concentration that stops bacterial growth. Both tests followed Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines—the gold standard for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The results: The cannabinoid fraction inhibited all four bacterial strains. Clear zones of inhibition: 8 to 14 millimeters diameter. MIC values: S. aureus ATCC 43300 (MRSA): 64.25 µg/mL S. aureus ATCC 25923: 31.25 µg/mL P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853: 31.25 µg/mL A. baumannii ATCC 19606: 31.25 µg/mL For context, those concentrations are comparable to pharmaceutical antibiotics tested in the same study. The northern Thailand samples—highest in CBN content—showed the strongest antibacterial activity across all bacterial strains. Cannabinoids from Trema orientalis killed multidrug-resistant bacteria at clinically relevant concentrations. And nobody talked about it. Traditional Medicine: Validation Centuries in the Making Here’s where the story gets interesting. Trema orientalis has been used in traditional medicine throughout tropical Asia for centuries. Particularly in Thailand and surrounding regions. The uses are well-documented in ethnobotanical literature: Respiratory infections: Bronchitis, pneumonia, pleurisy—inflammation of the membrane surrounding the lungs. Fever reduction: General antipyretic properties. Infectious diseases: Bacterial and viral infections, particularly of the respiratory system. The traditional preparation method: crush the inflorescences (flowers), extract the liquid, administer to patients—especially children—suffering from lung infections. J.M. Watt and M.G. Breyer-Brandwijk documented this use in their 1962 reference work The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa. Traditional healers across the region used Trema species specifically for respiratory ailments involving infection. Nobody understood the mechanism. The chemistry was unknown. The active compounds were
				

