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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 ...
Kavalactones are a class of lactone compounds found in kava roots and Alpinia zerumbet (shell ginger). [1] and in several Gymnopilus, Phellinus and Inonotus fungi. [2] Some kavalactones are bioactive. They are responsible for the psychoactive, analgesic, euphoric and sedative effects of kava. [3] [4]
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.
Kava cultures are the religious and cultural traditions of western Oceania which consume kava. There are similarities in the use of kava between the different cultures and islands, but each one also has its own traditions.
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The ceremony involved having kava, hundreds of baskets of food, and seventy cooked pigs presented to the King and the assembly of chiefs and nobles. [11] Later that night, schoolchildren held 30,000 torches to proclaim the coronation in what is known as a tupakapakanava. [11]
Methysticin is one of the six major kavalactones found in the kava plant. [1] Research suggests that methysticin and the related compound dihydromethysticin have CYP1A1 inducing effects which may be responsible for their toxicity. [2]