Newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.psychoactives From: [s--ko--u] at [superior.carleton.ca] (Steven Zikopoulos) Subject: Kava Kava (Piper methysticum) Date: Fri, 13 May 1994 22:26:56 GMT Thought some people interested in ethnopharmacology would like to readthe following... KAVA Although beer has largely replaced kava as the major intoxicating brew of Polynesia, kava bars are still quite common. This beverage made from the shrub PIPER METHYSTICUM was for centuries venerated amon the communities of the idyllic islands of Polynesia. It was originally prepared exclusively by children, who would collect the roots and lower stems of teh shrub, chew them, and then spit the soggy mass into a communal bowl. The salivary enzymes were clearly important for the release of the psychotropic constituents marindin and dihydromethysticin, from the vegetable matrix. The dried residue was then mixed with water and the extrat was straned to produce kava. The mode of preparation is essentially the same today. A measure equivalent ot a half-full split coconut shell is sufficient to produce a state of well-being and somnolence, althoughlarger quantities may induce a quarrelsome state and even drunken behaviour. This was too much for the missionaries and the tried with some success to rid the island of this unholy brew. The mode of actionof kava is completlely unknown, though the chemical structures of the main constituents have some structural similarity to those from nutmeg, and like these they may be metabolized to amphetamine-like compounds. Mann, J (1992). Murder, Magic and Medicine. Oxford University Press: New York. -- Steven Zikopoulos <[s--ko--u] at [ccs.carleton.ca]>