Investigating the Biological Activities of Moroccan Cannabis Sativa L Seed Extracts: Antimicrobial, Anti-inflammatory, and Antioxidant Effects with Molecular Docking Analysis

The present study focuses on assessing the bioactive potential of Cannabis sativa L. seed extracts, specifically the organic and aqueous extracts derived from Ketama hemp seeds harvested in Morocco. We tested the antioxidant capacities of the extracts, specifically their ability to scavenge DPPH free radicals. The ethanolic Cannabis sativa L. seed extract was particularly effective, demonstrating the lowest IC₅₀ value of 0.36mg/mL±0.01, outperforming the reference compound ascorbic acid, which had an IC₅₀ value of 0.68mg/mL±0.02. This suggests a significantly high antioxidant potential of the ethanolic extract against the DPPH radical. The β-carotene bleaching test further supported these findings, with the ethanolic and hexanolic extracts showing substantial antioxidant activity, inhibiting the coupled oxidation of linoleic acid and β-carotene by 36%±0.12 and 33%±0.14, respectively. We also assessed the antimicrobial potency of the seed extracts using the Muller-Hinton Agar well diffusion method. The ethanolic extract demonstrated the highest inhibition zone diameter (IZ = 23 mm) against Penicillium sp., whereas the hexane extract had the smallest IZ (07 mm) against Listeria monocytogenes. Microdilution method in a 96-well microplate was employed to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the extracts. All extracts showed inhibitory effects against all tested bacterial and fungal strains, with MIC, MBC, and MFC values ranging from 0.03 to 1.25 mg/mL. Lastly, the anti-inflammatory activity of the extracts was tested using the RBC method. The findings indicated that all extracts significantly inhibited heat/hypotonia-induced erythrocyte haemolysis, further exploring their potential therapeutic value.