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Kavalytics

Gourmet Hawaiian Kava

Kava Expert
Kava Vendor
The Kavalytics web site states the the accuracy of the first 3 digits of the chemotype is 60%. But it does cite excellent accuracy for positive ID (100%), noble/tudei sorting (95%) and total kavalactones (84%):

"KavaLytics™ 3.5 Model Features and Accuracy
  • Positively identify Kava – 100%
  • Determine if Kava is Noble or Non-Noble – 95%+
  • Provide total Kavalactone content - 84%+
  • Provide the first three numbers of the chemotype i.e. “4-2-3” - 60%+ (Beta)
  • Detect common adulterants of Kava including:
    • Excessive Peeled stems or “White Kasa” Content
    • Unpeeled stems or stem peelings or “Black Kasa”
    • Aerial stalks, stems, and leaves
    • Spent kava or “Makas”
From: https://kavalytics.com/

The concern was probably that in the NIRS studies that were done in the past (the paper by Gautz and another one by Lebot himself) they used instruments capable of measuring wavelengths between 400-2500 nm, and found that the region above 2000 nm was especially important for determining accurate chemotypes. The accuracy of individual KL measurements in Gautz's paper was about 90% relative to HPLC. The Kavalytics instrument can only detect NIR wavelengths between 900-1700nm, so a 60% accuracy for a partial chemotype makes sense to me based on working with half the NIR spectrum compared to those previous papers. Reproducing a result for an identical sample wouldn't tell you much. The real test would be completely different unknown samples.
I have a question about this, https://kavalytics.com/ mentioned above that this can detect common adulterants like makas, how does it do that? How can it tell the difference from spent makas and the real makas that is supposed to be in there. Honest question here.
 

Bula Kava House

Portland, OR
Kava Vendor
Kava Bar Owner
I didn't develop kavalytics and I'm not a data scientist, so I won't get too into the weeds here, but apparently, the 60% accuracy for chemotype is something of a technicality. Chemotypes as we know them are often separated by fractions of a percent. The same sample could test with ever so slightly different percentages and the first three numbers will completely switch. Having experience with HPLC, this is often the case as well. The same sample could be sent to three different labs, or even tested at the same lab, and you'll get three different chemotypes. The measurement of each individual kavalactone using kavalytics is very accurate.
 

verticity

I'm interested in things
I noticed on the web site that it says "Validated. Accepted by the Scientific Community as a Validated Method by Peer Reviewed Publication." This is in one of the scrolling images at the top. Thumbnail screenshot:

2019-10-01 23_21_58-Kavalytics.png

Which publication is this referring to? I would be very curious to read it if there is a pre-print or something available.
 

Kojo Douglas

The Kavasseur
Eat, drink kava, and be happy!::tanoa::::KavaChug::::kavaleaf::
The only kava I haven't really enjoyed I think may have been seriously fire-dried / super smokey strong flavor...but I still drank it...10 karat gold is still Gold to me!
This reminds me of a scene from one of the best American family films ever:

 
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