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Kava or kava kava (Piper methysticum: Latin 'pepper' and Latinized Greek 'intoxicating') is a plant in the pepper family, native to the Pacific Islands. [1] The name kava is from Tongan and Marquesan, meaning 'bitter.’ [1] Other names for kava include ʻawa (), [2] ʻava (), yaqona or yagona (), [3] sakau (), [4] seka (), [5] and malok or malogu (parts of Vanuatu). [6]
Tongan kava ceremonies are a variety of ceremonies involving the kava plant that play an integral part of Tongan society and governance.They play a role in strengthening cultural values and principles, solidifying traditional ideals of duty and reciprocity, reaffirming societal structures, and entrenching the practice of pukepuke fonua (lit. "tightly holding onto the land"), a Tongan cultural ...
The Samoan word ʻava (pronounced with the glottal stop) is a cognate of the Polynesian word kava associated with the kava cultures in Oceania. Both terms are understood in Samoa. The ʻava ceremony within Samoan culture retains the same ritual pattern with slight variations depending on the parties involved and the occasion.
In Hawaii, at least 13 varieties of ʻawa (kava) have been used for medicinal, religious, political, cultural and social purposes by all social classes, and by both men and women. Although there are 13 distinct cultivars from Hawaii, there are a number of other cultivars found throughout the islands brought in from other locations in Oceania.
The general structure of the kavalactones, without the R 1-R 2-O-CH 2-O- bridge and with all possible C=C double bonds shown.. Kavalactones are a class of lactone compounds found in kava roots and Alpinia zerumbet (shell ginger).
Yangonin is one of the six major kavalactones found in the kava plant. [1] It has been shown to possess binding affinity for the cannabinoid receptor CB 1 (K i = 0.72 μM), and selectivity vs. the CB 2 receptor (K i >10 μM) where it behaves as an agonist.
Statuette collected in the nineteenth century. A mo‘ai kavakava is a small wooden figure of a style originated by the Rapa Nui culture of Easter Island.. Each figure resembles a standing, slightly stooped, male human with an emaciated body.
The lists of cultivars in the table below are indices of plant cultivars, varieties, and strains. A cultivar is a plant that is selected for desirable characteristics that can be maintained by propagation. The plants listed may be ornamental, medicinal, and/or edible. Several of them bear edible fruit.