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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 ( Hawaiʻi ), [ 2 ] ʻava ( Samoa ), yaqona or yagona ( Fiji ), [ 3 ] sakau ...
While the two plants look similar and have similar names, they are different, albeit related, species. Kava is a traditional plant and beverage of the South Pacific. The roots of the plant are used to produce a drink with medicinal, sedative , anesthetic , euphoriant , and entheogenic properties. [ 8 ]
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.
Many studies involved kava extracts from different plant parts and are, therefore, not applicable to kavain itself. In 2016, kavain was shown to bind at the extrasynaptic α4β2δ GABAA receptor and potentiate GABA efficacy, similarly to barbiturates. [4]
Piper hooglandii, endemic to Lord Howe Island, is locally known as "kava" Piper excelsum subsp. psittacorum, a subspecies of Piper excelsum is commonly known as "kava" Piper methysticum, commonly known as kava, can be used to make a drink with sedative and anesthetic properties
Piper excelsum subsp. psittacorum, commonly known as pepper tree or kava, is a flowering plant in the family Piperaceae. The subspecific epithet means “of the parrots”, inferring a liking by parrots for the fruits.
The Piperaceae (/ ˌ p ɪ p ə ˈ r eɪ ʃ iː /), also known as the pepper family, are a large family of flowering plants. The group contains roughly 3,600 currently accepted species in five genera. The group contains roughly 3,600 currently accepted species in five genera.
Many of these plants are used intentionally as psychoactive drugs, for medicinal, religious, and/or recreational purposes. Some have been used ritually as entheogens for millennia. [1] [2] The plants are listed according to the specific psychoactive chemical substances they contain; many contain multiple known psychoactive compounds.