Kava Fact of the Day The known active components in kava.

[The Kap'n]

Kava fact of the day: The known active components in kava.

Today's fact is straight forward. Kava has many constituents that contribute to it's psychoactivity. More than 40 compounds have been identified from kava. The main pharmacological active ingredients in kava are called kavalactones. There are 18 kavalactones identified from organic extracts of kava root, which include:

• kavain
• methysticin
• 10‐methoxyyangonin
• 7,8‐dihydrokavain
• 7,8‐dihydromethysticin
• 11‐methoxyyangonin
• desmethoxyyangonin
• 5,6‐dehydromethysticin
• 11‐hydroxyyangonin
• yangonin
• 5,6‐dihydroyangonin
• 5‐hydroxykavain
• 5,6,7,8‐tetrahydroyangonin
• 7,8‐dihydroyangonin
• 11‐methoxy‐12‐hydroxydehydrokavain
• 11‐methoxy‐5,6‐dihydroyangonin

Kavain (K), yangonin (Y), methysticin (M), desmethoxyyangonin (DMY), dihydrokavain (DHK), and dihydromethysticin (DHM) are the six main kavalactones in kava root, which account for approximately 95% of the organic extract.[1]

[1]Fu, Dong & Ramzan, Iqbal. (2015). Use of Kava as a Phytotherapeutic Agent and Kava-Related Hepatotoxicity. 10.1002/9781119006039.ch13.

 

[ThePiper]

They say the "magical half dozen" account for 95% of the organic extract. I wonder how many cultivars they used for this research? I can't find the study online outside of a paywall... Wouldn't be surprised if entire regions were left out of this, say Hawaiian or Samoan kavas. Maybe some of the kavas we drink have lots of 5,6,7,8-THY goodies.

 

[kavamehameha]

I wonder how many cultivars they used for this research? I can't find the study online outside of a paywall...

I do have access to the full article through my institute, and I skimmed through it. As far as I can tell, it is not specified how many and which cultivars are used to come to these conclusions. However, the article appears to be a review, and they refer to other already existing literature and studies, so maybe one can find more in these sources. The authors note the following regarding the percentage of 95%:

"The amounts of these kavalactones vary depending on the preparation technique, as well as the age and cultivar of the kava plant. [8,9]"

At this point the authors refer to
[8]Teschke R, Lebot V (2011) Proposal for a kava quality standardization code. Food Chem Toxicol 49: 2503–2516.
[9]Olsen LR, Grillo MP, Skonberg C (2011) Constituents in kava extracts potentially involved in hepatotoxicity: a review. Chem Res Toxicol 24: 992–1002.