kava kava kava or kava kava (piper methysticum: latin 'pepper' and latinized greek 'intoxicating') is a crop of the pacific islands. the name kava is from tongan and marquesan, meaning 'bitter'; other names for kava include ʻawa (hawaiʻi), ʻava (samoa), yaqona or yagona (fiji), sakau (pohnpei), seka (kosrae), and malok or malogu (parts of vanuatu). kava is consumed for its sedating effects throughout the pacific ocean cultures of polynesia, including hawaii and vanuatu, melanesia, some parts of micronesia, such as pohnpei and kosrae, and the philippines. this article is about the plant. for the class of pharmacological derivatives, see kavalactone. for other uses, see kava (disambiguation). kava piper methysticum leaves scientific classification kingdom: plantae clade: tracheophytes clade: angiosperms clade: magnoliids order: piperales family: piperaceae genus: piper species: p. methysticum binomial name piper methysticumg.forst. the root of the plant is used to produce a drink with sedative, anesthetic, and euphoriant properties. its active ingredients are called kavalactones. a systematic review done by the british nonprofit cochrane concluded it was likely to be more effective than placebo at treating short-term anxiety. moderate consumption of kava in its traditional form, i.e., as a water-based suspension of kava roots, has been deemed to present an "acceptably low level of health risk" by the world health organization. however, consumption of kava extracts produced with organic solvents, or excessive amounts of poor-quality kava products, may be linked to an increased risk of adverse health outcomes, including potential liver injury. history and names kava is conspecific with piper wichmannii, indicating kava was domesticated from piper wichmannii (syn. piper subbullatum). kava originated in either new guinea or vanuatu by seafarers. it was spread by the austronesian lapita culture after contact eastward into the rest of polynesia. it is endemic to oceania and is not found in other austronesian groups. kava reached hawaii, but it is absent in new zealand where it cannot grow. consumption of kava is also believed to be the reason why betel chewing, ubiquitous elsewhere, was lost for austronesians in oceania. according to lynch (2002), the reconstructed proto-polynesian term for the plant, *kava, was derived from the proto-oceanic term *kawar in the sense of a "bitter root" or "potent root ". it may have been related to reconstructed *wakar (in proto-oceanic and proto-malayo-polynesian) via metathesis. it originally referred to zingiber zerumbet, which was used to make a similar mildly psychoactive bitter drink in austronesian rituals. cognates for *kava include pohnpeian sa-kau; tongan, niue, rapa nui, tuamotuan, and rarotongan kava; samoan and marquesan ʻava; and hawaiian ʻawa. in some languages, most notably māori kawa, the cognates have come to mean "bitter", "sour", or "acrid" to the taste. in the cook islands, the reduplicated forms of kawakawa or kavakava are also applied to the unrelated members of the genus pittosporum. in other languages, such as futunan, compound terms like kavakava atua refer to other species belonging to the genus piper. the reduplication of the base form is indicative of falsehood or likeness, in the sense of "false kava". in new zealand, it was applied to the kawakawa (piper excelsum) which is endemic to new zealand and nearby norfolk island and lord howe island. it was exploited by the māori based on previous knowledge of the kava, as the latter could not survive in the colder climates of new zealand. the māori name for the plant, kawakawa, is derived from the same etymon as kava, but reduplicated. it is a sacred tree among the māori people. it is seen as a symbol of death, corresponding to the rangiora (brachyglottis repanda) which is the symbol of life. however, kawakawa has no psychoactive properties. its connection to kava is based purely on similarity in appearance. characteristics kava was historically grown only in the pacific islands of hawaii, federated states of micronesia, vanuatu, fiji, the samoas and tonga. an inventory of p. methysticum distribution showed it was cultivated on numerous islands of micronesia, melanesia, polynesia, and hawaii, whereas specimens of p. wichmannii were all from papua new guinea, the solomon islands, and vanuatu. the kava shrub thrives in loose, well-drained soils where plenty of air reaches the roots. it grows naturally where rainfall is plentiful, attaining over 78 inches (2,000 mm) per year. ideal growing conditions are 70–95 °f (21–35 °c) and 70–100% relative humidity. too much sunlight is harmful, especially in early growth, because kava is an understory crop. kava cannot reproduce sexually. female flowers are especially rare and do not produce fruit even when hand-pollinated. its cultivation is entirely by propagation from stem cuttings. traditionally, plants are harvested around four years of age, as older plants have higher concentrations of kavalactones. after reaching about 2 metres (6.6 ft) height, plants grow a wider stalk and additional stalks, but not much taller. the roots can reach a depth of 60 centimetres (2.0 ft). cultivars painting showing women preparing kava by john la farge (c. 1891) kava consists of sterile cultivars cloned from its wild ancestor, piper wichmanii. today it comprises hundreds of different cultivars grown across the pacific. each cultivar has not only different requirements for successful cultivation, but also displays unique characteristics both in terms of its appearance, and in terms of its psychoactive properties. noble and non-noble kava scholars make a distinction between the so-called "noble" and non-noble kava. the latter category comprises the so-called "tudei" (or "two-day") kavas, medicinal kavas, and wild kava (piper wichmanii, the ancestor of domesticated piper methysticum). traditionally, only noble kavas have been used for regular consumption, due to their more favourable composition of kavalactones and other compounds that produce more pleasant effects and have lower potential for causing negative side-effects, such as nausea or "kava hangover". the perceived benefits of noble cultivars explain why only these cultivars were spread around the pacific by polynesian and melanesian migrants, with presence of non-noble cultivars limited to the islands of vanuatu from which they originated. more recently, it has been suggested that the widespread use of tudei cultivars in the manufacturing of several kava products might have been the key factor contributing to the rare reports of adverse reactions to kava observed among the consumers of kava-based products in europe. tudei varieties have traditionally not been grown in hawaii and fiji; but in recent years there have been reports of farmers attempting to grow "isa" or "palisi" non-noble cultivars in hawaii, and of imports of dried tudei kava into fiji for further re-exporting. the tudei cultivars may be easier and cheaper to grow: while it takes up to 5 years for noble kava to mature, non-noble varieties can often be harvested just one year after being planted. the concerns about the adverse effects of non-noble varieties, produced by their undesirable composition of kavalactones and high concentrations of potentially harmful compounds (flavokavains), which are not present in any significant concentration in the noble varieties, have led to legislation prohibiting exports from such countries as vanuatu. likewise, efforts have been made to educate the non-traditional customers about the difference between noble and non-noble varieties and that non-noble varieties do not offer the same results as noble cultivars. in recent years, government regulatory bodies and non-profit ngos have been set up with the declared aim of monitoring kava quality, producing regular reports, certifying vendors selling proper, noble kava, and warning customers against products that may contain tudei varieties. growing regions in vanuatu, exportation of kava is strictly regulated. only cultivars classified as "noble" are allowed to be exported. only the most desirable cultivars for everyday drinking are classified as noble to maintain quality control. in addition, their laws mandate that exported kava must be at least five years old and farmed organically. their most popular noble cultivars are "borogu" or "borongoru" from pentecost island, "melomelo" from aoba island (called sese in the north pentecost island), and "palarasul" kava from espiritu santo. in vanuatu, tudei ("two day") kava is reserved for special ceremonial occasions and exporting it is not allowed. "palisi" is a popular tudei variety. in hawaii, there are many other cultivars of kava (hawaiian: ʻawa). some of the most popular cultivars are mahakea, moʻi, hiwa and nene. the aliʻi (kings) of precolonial hawaii coveted the moʻi variety, which had a strong cerebral effect due to a predominant amount of the kavalactone kavain. this sacred variety was so important to them that no one but royalty could ever experience it, "lest they suffer an untimely death". the reverence for hiwa in old hawaiʻi is evident in this portion of a chant recorded by nathaniel bright emerson and quoted by e. s. craighill and elizabeth green handy. "this refers to the cup of sacramental ʻawa brewed from the strong, black ʻawa root (ʻawa hiwa) which was drunk sacramentally by the kumu hula": the day of revealing shall see what it sees: a seeing of facts, a sifting of rumors, an insight won by the black sacred 'awa, a vision like that of a god! winter describes a hula prayer for inspiration which contains the line, he ʻike pū ʻawa hiwa. pukui and elbert translated this as "a knowledge from kava offerings". winter explains that ʻawa, especially of the hiwa variety, was offered to hula deities in return for knowledge and inspiration. relationship with kawakawa kawakawa (piper excelsum) plant may have been named by early polynesian voyagers to new zealand due to its similarities to kava. kawakawa (piper excelsum) plant, known also as "māori kava", may be confused with kava. while the two plants look similar and have similar names, they are different but related species. kawakawa is a small tree endemic to new zealand, having importance to traditional medicine and māori culture. as noted by the kava society of new zealand, "in all likelihood, the kava plant was known to the first settlers of aotearoa . it is also possible that (just like the polynesian migrants that settled in hawaii) the maori explorers brought some kava with them. unfortunately, most of new zealand is simply too cold for growing kava and hence the maori settlers lost their connection to the sacred plant." further, "in new zealand, where the climate is too cold for kava, the maori gave the name kawa-kawa to another piperaceae m. excelsum, in memory of the kava plants they undoubtedly brought with them and unsuccessfully attempted to cultivate. the maori word kawa also means "ceremonial protocol", recalling the stylized consumption of the drug typical of polynesian societies". kawakawa is commonly used in maori traditional medicine for the treatment of skin infections, wounds and cuts, and (when prepared as a tea) for stomach upsets and other minor illnesses. composition fresh kava root contains on average 80% water. dried root contains approximately 43% starch, 20% dietary fiber, 15% kavalactones, 12% water, 3.2% sugars, 3.6% protein, and 3.2% minerals. in general, kavalactone content is greatest in the roots and decreases higher up the plant into the stems and leaves. relative concentrations of 15%, 10% and 5% have been observed in the root, stump, and basal stems, respectively. the relative content of kavalactones depends not only on plant segment, but also on the kava plant varieties, plant maturity, geographic location, and time of harvest. the kavalactones present are kavain, demethoxyyangonin and yangonin, which are higher in the roots than in the stems and leaves, with dihydrokavain, methysticin, and dihydromethysticin also present. the mature roots of the kava plant are harvested after a minimum of four years (at least five years ideally) for peak kavalactone content. most kava plants produce around 50 kg (110 lb) of root when they are harvested. kava root is classified into two categories: crown root (or chips) and lateral root. crown roots are the large-diameter pieces that look like (1.5 to 5 inches (38 to 127 mm) diameter) wooden poker chips. most kava plants consist of approximately 80% crown root upon harvesting. lateral roots are smaller-diameter roots that look more like a typical root. a mature kava plant is about 20% lateral roots. kava lateral roots have the highest content of kavalactones in the kava plant. "waka" grade kava is made of lateral roots only. pharmacology constituents the general structure of the kavalactones, without the r1-r2 -o-ch2-o- bridge and with all possible c=c double bonds shown. a total of 18 different kavalactones (or kavapyrones) have been identified to date, at least 15 of which