Pukatea (Laurelia novae-zealandiae) & Kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum)

[solomon]

Pukatea (Laurelia novae-zealandiae) & Kawakawa/Maori Kava (Macropiper excelsum)

Has anyone had any experience with growing or ingesting either of these plants? as i have just received seeds.

and is there anything in acacia longifolia in worthwhile amounts?

[t st tantra]

a tea from a few macropiper fresh leaves was pleasant to drink but very mild .

t s t .

[planthelper]

Chemische Forschungsabteilung der F. Hoffmann-La Roche & Co., AG., Basel

4. Mitteilung: [1].

Abstract

From an extract of Laurelia novae-zelandiae A. CUNN. the aporphine alkaloids (-)-pukateine (I), (-)-pukateine methyl ether (II), (-)-roemerine (IV), (-)-mecambroline (V), (+)-boldine (VII), (+)-isoboldine (VIII), (+)-laurolitsine (IX), and the proaporphine alkaloid (+)-stepharine (X) were isolated. Compounds II and V were up to now not described as natural alkaloids. These and the alkaloids IV, VII, VIII, IX and X are new for L. novae-zelandiae

[solomon]

thank you both for the info.

just in case anyone was wondering, pukatea is supposedly an analgesic similar to morphine.

@ ts t:

mild sedative?

[t st tantra]

maybe

t s t .

[tryptamine]

I,m growing both but the Laurelia novae-zealandiae is very slow and still too small to risk harvesting. I have a funny feeling the effects may be closer to tetrahydropalmetine than that of morphine, as far as euphoria goes anyway.

Most of the literature refers to the medicinal effects of the leaves of Macropiper excelsum, as a digestive tonic and the like, however one would assume the Maori would more likely have used the roots, at least upon first discovery, either mistaking it for or trying it as an alternative for the kava they had left behind (or failed to cultivate in the colder NZ climate) when migrating from the pacific islands. The chemistry of the root looks to be closer to Nutmeg than Kava, so its likely said Maori got quite a surprise after initial ingestion, as the effects would likely have been hallucinogenic rather than euphoric sedative.

I have not managed to find any bioassay reports of the root online, but would be very interested to hear if anyone has sampled. One day I will test myself, but its not exactly top of my list at the moment.

[solomon]

The chemistry of the root looks to be closer to Nutmeg than Kava, so its likely said Maori got quite a surprise after initial ingestion, as the effects would likely have been hallucinogenic rather than euphoric sedative.

 

i knew i had read that somewhere.

can one chew the leaves of pukatea then because i really dont want to mutilate any trees.

or chew bark for that matter.

also, know of any other nz ethnobotanicals, apart from that licheny liverwort thing?

[tryptamine]

can one chew the leaves of pukatea then because i really dont want to mutilate any trees.

or chew bark for that matter.

 

^The Garden of Eden, by Snu Voogelbreinder suggests a tea made from the leaves gives a mild feeling of well being.

The leaves of Dodonaea viscosa (Ake Ake) are chewed as a stimulant that has been compared to Coca. Not sure about toxicity of that one.

Some Corprosma species have been used a Coffee substitutes.

[solomon]

^The Garden of Eden, by Snu Voogelbreinder suggests a tea made from the leaves gives a mild feeling of well being.

The leaves of Dodonaea viscosa (Ake Ake) are chewed as a stimulant that has been compared to Coca. Not sure about toxicity of that one.

Some Corprosma species have been used a Coffee substitutes.

 

thanks so much for that info, i just found 7 ake ake about 15cm high each in car park growing in the gravel and dirt. will definitely look into this one.

[zero]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19441008

"Toxicity studies on dermal application of plant extract of Dodonaea viscosa used in Ethiopian traditional medicine.

Abstract

Despite advances in the understanding of the medicinal properties of many herbs, the consumer today is confronted with the lack of or misinformation concerning the safety of these herbs that rivals the heyday of the patent medicine era. In the present study, Dodonaea viscosa (Sapindaceae), a medicinal plant commonly used for skin diseases in Ethiopia was subjected to a systematic dermatotoxicity study. To this effect, the dermatotoxicity of an 80% methanol extract of the leaf was investigated in animals following standard procedures for irritation, sensitization, acute toxicity and repeated toxicity tests. The skin irritation test in rabbits showed the extract to be a slight or negligibly slight irritant, with a primary irritation index of 0.45. A sensitization test in mice by the mouse ear swelling test method revealed the extract to be a non-sensitizer in the dose range 12-30 mg/mL. The percent responder was zero. The acute and repeated dermal toxicity tests on rats did not show any overt sign of toxicity. The findings of this study collectively indicate that dermal application of D. viscosa is not associated with any toxicologically relevant effects and the data could provide satisfactory preclinical evidence of safety to launch a clinical trial on a standardized formulation of the plant extracts. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd."

[mindperformer]

I wrote something to Macropiper excelsum (Maori-Kava) and added a picture of my plant in this thread:

Piper- species, from Kava to Betel

More on Pukatea:

Laurelia novae-zelandiae- leaf (cultivated), 24-fold enlarged:

Laurelia novae-zelandiae- twigbark (cultivated), 24-fold enlarged:

Laurelia novae-zelandiae- twigwood (cultivated), 24-fold enlarged:

[mindperformer]

a big Macropiper excelsum in New Zealand near a reconstructed Maori- village:

[Nemisty]

Thats about the standard size of the ones in the native bush. I got a medium sized one growing on my property.

Which Native Tree? by Andrew Crowe has some cool info.

Maori gardeners set fire to wet, green kawakawa leaves and branches laid in rows between their plantation beds. As the kawakawa smouldered its acrid smoke poisoned the pest. The leaves and branches have since been found to contain a compound that can kill insects by interfering with their metamorphoses. So theres another all natural pesticide for you guys, could be a good one for my sally plants.

It also states that Kawakawa contains myisticin, a substance similar to the pain-numbing constituant of cloves. I've chewed leaves before ( never that much though ) and it certainly does make your mouth go faintly numb. Tastes f*cken bitter though, worse than khat but not quite as bad as salvia.

The plant also produces berries which turn yellow when ripe but they're fairly strong tasting, they might be good to use in cooking actually, now I think about it. Even a marmalade or something.

[mindperformer]

I understand, you're from NZ, so I believe you're right and that it was a standard size bush.

Very interesting that it is used against pests. Piper methysticum was found to be a good fungicide.

In my experience I can confirm the numbness after a few fresh Maori-Kava leaves. It is also a good spice stuffed in fish.

Edited September 28, 2012 by mindperformer

[mindperformer]

Pukateine is not only a D1/2 receptor agonist (IC50: 0,4/0,6 muM) but also a dopamine reuptake inhibitor with an IC50 of 46muM.

The D2 receptor agonism (like LSD, Salvinorin A and anti-parkinson drugs) may explain the reported dissoziative effects.

It also shows alpha1-adrenoceptor affinity and antioxidant activity.

Edited October 1, 2012 by mindperformer

[mindperformer]

interesting paper on pukatea:

http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_42/rsnz_42_02_007220.html

there also must be an uncharted action on pain- transduction, because of many reports of (also local) numbness. Maybe an action on Na-channels like cocaine.

Edited October 1, 2012 by mindperformer

[mindperformer]

At this point it is time to remember that Pukatea is a rare tree in some regions of NZ. Don't scrape the bark of wild trees. There are more and more nurseries from which you can get living trees. Only buy material from cultivated trees!

[2meke]

I've been told to go for the kawakawa leaves with the most holes as apparently the bugs go for the best leaves. I think it'd be more likely to have something to do with the plant possibly increasing alkaloids in reaction to being attacked by bugs...?

You hardly ever see more than afew holes in afew of the leaves. I've only once seen one that's been stripped of foliage and that could've been from possums or humans.

Yeah pukatea is a farkin slow grower and mature trees are very few and far between. I'd be sceptical of people harvesting pukatea for commercial purposes being from private land like they say.

[CβL]

It's my understanding (from chewing a hundred or so leaves) that the best leaves are thicker and shinier, and rather small. The big dark-green duller ones are rather weak in my experience.

I haven't tested enough, but sometimes leaves are way stronger tasting than others.

Secondly, if you chew the leaves, don't gobble the entire thing at once. It's better to either bite of tiny chunks and chew them thoroughly, or make some kind of quid and "suck" on it, and every so often "crush" it a tiny bit.

I'm also immediately skeptical of those harvesting Pukatea commercially, and I didn't even know it was happening. I hope we can spread the awareness that we should leave them to grow since they're rare before it becomes a problem. It's a good thing that all the mature trees I've seen are basically fine.

[mindperformer]

I haven't heard of increased kavalactone- concentration in Kava-leaves after they are attacked by bugs, but it is possible, since it was observed in Acacias and other plants.

Never use the leaves of Kava, they are potentially liver toxic.

@CßL:

very interesting that the alkaloid- concentration varies that much in Pukatea. I've only tried a tincture from leaves in a small dose (from a nursery in New Zealand) and there was a strong numbing sensation.

[CβL]

That was about Kawakawa, sorry. I don't have any clue about alkaloidal variation in Pukatea.

Secondly (also off-topic), there's a tree called Kawaka: http://en.wikipedia....ocedrus_plumosa

I found one at my university. So I research more... and the photo of that article, is the tree I found, hahaha.

Edit:

A random link I'll need later: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874105006215

Edited October 2, 2012 by CβL

[mindperformer]

...the Kawaka tree is one of the few conifers at subtropical latitudes.

This New Zealand endemic was also planted in cold northern Ireland and grows well.

To your second link:

Plectranthus coleoides is called Weihrauchpflanze in german, which means "frankincense plant", because it smells like fruity frankincense...

Edited October 2, 2012 by mindperformer

[CβL]

I found a Plectranthus hidden in my garden, and I noticed its similarities to Salvia genus, so took a cutting and am gonna grow it. I wondered what alkaloids it may have, and found that link. I saved the file just now (as at uni today) if anyone wants to have a read of it.

The one I'm growing is probably a Plectranthus ciliatus, and apparently it was used to wash clothes~ haha

[bogfrog]

Here is myPukatea:

It sit with my bonsai trees so i remember to water it properly.

I also have a kawakawa plant, but its a bit ratty looking at the moment after caterpillars have been munching on it.

[mindperformer]

very nice plant, bogfrog. Do you grow it outside in winter on the south island?