News: Pheophytins As Bioenhancers - Improving Cannabidiol Bioavailability And Efficacy In Cannabis Extracts.
- Manuel Basegla
- Oct 3
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 7
Published 12:00 AM EST, Fri Oct 03, 2025 New research shows that chlorophyll compounds called pheophytins can significantly improve the absorption and effectiveness of CBD in cannabis extracts. Extracts with more pheophytins had better CBD dispersibility and delivered stronger anti-seizure effects in animal tests.
Researchers have discovered that chlorophyll derivatives (CDs), particularly pheophytins, act as natural bioenhancers in cannabis extracts. Due to their amphiphilic structure, pheophytins improve the solubility of lipophilic cannabinoids like CBD, increasing their dispersibility in water. Comparative tests between high-chlorophyll and low-chlorophyll cannabis extracts revealed that the high-chlorophyll versions offered significantly greater CBD dispersibility and more organized nanostructures.
These biophysical advantages translated into pharmacological improvements. Animal studies showed that pheophytin-rich or pheophytin-enriched extracts doubled CBD’s plasma concentration and overall exposure (AUC) after oral administration. Moreover, these extracts demonstrated superior therapeutic efficacy, significantly reducing seizures and increasing survival rates in a rodent seizure model compared to standard CBD-rich extracts.
The findings highlight that the variability in therapeutic effects of cannabis extracts with similar cannabinoid profiles may not solely depend on minor cannabinoids or terpenes but also on overlooked constituents like chlorophyll derivatives. This underscores the broader concept of the entourage effect, where multiple cannabis compounds interact to shape biological outcomes.
For the cannabis industry, this study offers a crucial insight: chlorophyll, often viewed as an impurity to be removed during extraction, may in fact enhance product efficacy and bioavailability. This could reshape extraction strategies, formulation design, and product positioning. High-chlorophyll extracts may deliver superior therapeutic outcomes, particularly for medical markets such as epilepsy or pain management, creating new differentiation pathways in an increasingly competitive cannabis landscape. Source: Science Direct
