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Kava Fact of the Day KL Extraction at high heat and pressure with water.

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
In 2001 a study was performed on kava and various extraction methods. Kava was investigated with water at different temperatures in a 60 bar (870 psi) chamber. This is quite far from our normal method of water extraction. This doesn’t extrapolate to our real-world results; however, it does speak to kavalactones and their ability to withstand heat and pressure for extended time. In this study kava powder was subjected to water in a high-pressure environment for a range of different times and temperatures. The powder material returned an increase in kavalactone content when temperatures and extraction times increased (Figure 2). This lends evidence to the logic that with increased temperatures and times any loss of kavalactone molecules due to degradation will be eclipsed by the increase of kavalactones overall when aided by higher temperature extractions.


figure2.jpg


Kava powder was also held at 100°C (212°F) for one hour and then for two hours. Results show a small increase in the level of kavalactones between the one- and two-hour results indicating if kavalactones are lost, they are lost at a lower rate than the added increase in efficiency. Note: while extraction efficiencies are increased in this scenario, boiling your kava at 100°C will make quite a repulsive kava beverage, and as such we suggest room temperature water for every day kava drinking.


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Kubátová, A., Miller, D. J., & Hawthorne, S. B. (2001). Comparison of subcritical water and organic solvents for extracting kava lactones from kava root. Journal of Chromatography A, 923(1–2), 187–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9673(01)00979-7
 

Ellviis

Kava Curious
Does kava taste bad if added to decaffinated hot coffee? I was thinking of doing this in the mornings, decaf (don’t want the caffine, but the taste is kinda good) and how the bitterness helps cover the kava
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
Does kava taste bad if added to decaffinated hot coffee? I was thinking of doing this in the mornings, decaf (don’t want the caffine, but the taste is kinda good) and how the bitterness helps cover the kava
If it's already prepared, it wont be any more pungent than usual. If you use hot liquids to prepare, that's where the funky flavors come from.
 

jonaspmd

found kava
Absolute amount would probably differ depending on the cultivar used. But the data are interesting from the extraction rate perspective. Looks like dihydrokavain (spelled with "w" in the top chart btw) is extracted the quickest, while kavain lags roughly three time at 50C. At 150C the concentrations of the three kavains are within a much narrower range. It would be interesting to see the third axis "time", or at least 2D chart with extract% vs time at a specific temperature. If starch transformation (writing from top of my head, but this has been discussed elsewhere) in high temperature is the main issue what makes kava drink prepared in 60C+ water taste bad, then would it be possible to model the concentrations of preferred kavains by manipulating time in lower temps? Eg, longer extraction at 50C would get higher concentrations of all kavains. Caveat here is what would happen with the starch at 50C, but during a longer extraction. I remember reading somewhere here that someone left kava powder in water in the fridge overnight and got what they claimed a very strong drink.

One peculiarity with the top chart is that it implies there is 0% extraction at zero degrees. If we would try ice cold water for the traditional prep, I wonder if we really would not get any effects whatsoever. I may be misreading the chart as not familiar with the sonication method. Also no idea if any of this can be translated for home preparation as they used high pressure.
 

kavakarma

Kava Enthusiast
Very interesting.In ten minutes, twenty percent kavain came from the roots at a temperature similar to that achieveable by boiling the roots in salt water!

Even more fascinating, they claim to pull 90% of kavalactones from boiling for a couple hours. What is this implying? I get a decent amount from multiple washes, and I'm willing to boil some frozen leftovers. I can't imagine the roots literally turning into pure kavalactone juice though. I'm thinking it will be a funky dark brown liquid with just a hint of kava flavor.
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
Very interesting.In ten minutes, twenty percent kavain came from the roots at a temperature similar to that achieveable by boiling the roots in salt water!

Even more fascinating, they claim to pull 90% of kavalactones from boiling for a couple hours. What is this implying? I get a decent amount from multiple washes, and I'm willing to boil some frozen leftovers. I can't imagine the roots literally turning into pure kavalactone juice though. I'm thinking it will be a funky dark brown liquid with just a hint of kava flavor.
Unless you've got a MEAN pressure cooker unfortunately you won't reach the study criteria they had in the paper. They were extracting kava at high temps AND high pressures, specifically over 800 PSI! I'd be scared of any kitchen utensil operating at that pressure, lol.
 
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