Hmmm. A worthy project, but where/how
did you get the numbers in the wiki, just a self-report? I don't want to seem nitpicky straight away, because before I even took a position on
these forums I was held with suspicion. Familiarity with people
always breeds trust, and that is something I haven't got here just yet, so saying something controversial would be risky. Again, this
(like the K@) was brought up to me, so I will address it as
directly as possible...
So, Borogu is a not a chemotype that begins with "2." (And I understand borogoru, depending on the "type" of borogoru, should present similarly as well. A couple source locations claim different medicinal borogorus, which gets to ANOTHER list I hope to post soon - as complete a list of cultivars as I can determine: noble, two-day, and wild.) I cannot write/opine on legitimacy of Tongan chemotypes, as my intimate familiarity
with distribution does not really extend beyond Vanuatu's borders at
present, but the numbers appear that of a noble.
In every HPLC or NIRS result I have ever seen, consumptive Borogu tissue (stumps/roots) is a 4235xx. It is
a noble cultivar, and they are recognized by their high K (4), which
is often 50% or more greater than DHK (2) in Borogu. Different
tissues of the plant will present with slightly varying chemotypes.
When you get into the basal stems of the plants, you can get a high
DHM reading for a noble variety, but that is not the case in Borogu
root tissue, which will always be highest in kavain. In the 2008 the Journal of Agriculture
and Food Chemistry Vol. 56, #13, an article was published by Lasme,
Davrieux, Montet, and Lebot on the quantification of kavalactones. It
specifically dealt with NIRS and HPLC analysis for determining
quality control standards. (I will see if there is a way to get the
whole thing on here, but it is a journal, so copyright may not permit, but ut, with the details, I'm sure someone can find
it on a database online if interested. I only have a physical copy.) It
has a huge list of cultivars and chemotypes from the testing, and is
a good scholarly start for a public database such as the one you are trying
to develop.
From that article:
"Good cultivars used for daily
drinking and those known for their rapid effect, such as Borogu have
chemotypes rich in K (423561, 423651). This can be explained by fast
absorption of kavain, which causes a sudden high, compared to the
much slower absorption of DHK and DHM which frequently produce
nausea... The same is true for a group of cultivars of var.
methysticum famous for their long-lasting effect and called
"two-days", which present chemotype 254631, such as
Palisi... Chemotype is genetically controlled. The chemotype of a
given cultivar is fairly stable as indicated by the different plants
of cultivars Borogu (a noble variety) and Palisi (an illegal variety)
collected from the germplasm collection and from different villages." and, "When the kavain content is higher than that of the five other kavalactones, this is an indication that the powder sample originates from a noble variety."
So, if you have someone claiming a
chemotype that starts with "2" for Borogu roots, there was
either a mix-up in which cultivar they were reporting the chemotype
for, or they were sold something else and told it was Borogu roots,
but the kava they have is not the kava they think they have.
In my opinion, this should be a matter
of concern, and gets to the beef of the intent of Vanuatu's Kava
Purity Act. It is currently seen as having no solid mechanism of
enforcement, yet stipulates that only noble drinking varieties over 5
years old are to be exported. This is something we are hoping
parliament will pay more attention to in the coming year, as the
importance of kava for Vanuatu's economy is growing. There was some
lip-service paid to it when I was last there during election time –
but we all know how politicians behave.
The good news is, there was recently a
memo that went around from the Dept. of Ag. detailing new procedures
for outbound testing and quality control of kava exports. (I'll see
if I can find and post it, along with posting the chemotypes
determined from the 2008 study that I have on hand, in addition to
those chemotypes of our current kavas.) Nonetheless, many of us are
hoping that it will be a good beginning to a strong set of national
quality-control procedures that will make it impossible for exporters
to circumvent the Kava Purity Act.Well, if you made it this far down - thanks for your time, and pardon the long-winded nature of the response, as well as any typos that may have crept in. I'd edit, but have a couple things to tend to this evening, so I gotta post an offer of ours in the lounge after I eat this nearly ready dinner, and head out. Busy day today, but kava time SOON. Cheers! Thanks again!
~AP
