Forms and pharmacology of Coca

 

• 1Introduction & Use of Coca - Erythroxylum Coca
• 2Health risks and potential dangers of coca
• 3Growing Coca
• 4Forms and pharmacology of Coca
  • 4.1 Forms of the Coca plant
  • 4.2Pharmacology of coca
  • 4.3Reported alkaloids in coca
  • 4.4 More Forum Coca Sections
  • 4.5 The latest Coca threads
• 5Legal status and politics of coca
• 6History of Coca

[top] Forms of the Coca plant

The Erythroxylum Coca plant is native to north-western South America, but the family of Erythroxylaceae, contains over 240 species and can be found in many different environments. Many of these species still have to be studied, notably for their potential alkaloid makeup. An example of another well know ethnobotanical which is a member of this family is the Brazilian native plant catuaba, Erythroxylum catuaba ( =E. vacciniifolium). Many other Erythroxylum species contain concentrations of active alkaloids, but few have been actually studied in depth. Other promising subjects are the various Australian Erythroxylum, such as Erythroxylum australe. There are reports of three different Australian sub-species, the most temperate one containing contains 0.8% Meteloidine: (C13H21NO4) (6,7-Dihydroxytigloidine), a Tigloidine (C13H21NO2) based alkaloid, and 0.05% Hygrine (C8H15NO) as well as other alkaloids. Two other tropical Australian Erythroxylum have been reported, one which might include concentrations of tropacocaine. Another interesting Erythroxylum variety was reported in Ceylon (which became a major coca production center after a cocaine producing variety was transplanted there), predating the introduction of a new species, which is sometimes identified as Erythroxylum moonii.
Yet for various historical and practical reasons linked to cocaine production, Erythroxylum coca, coca, has become the best known and most studied species of this family.
Similarity between the name coca and the cocoa ( refering to the bean from which cocoa butter and chocolate are made) has often induced confusions, especially in early litterature- though this confusion can still sometimes be found today. Coca, who's name comes from spanish transcriptions of the vernacular denominations koka ( Quechua) or kuka (Aymara), is in no way related to the cocoa bean.

Taxonomy :

Erythroxylum coca
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales ( formerly Linales)
Family: Erythroxylaceae
Genus: Erythroxylum

There are twelve main E. coca species and varieties. Two subspecies, Erythroxylum. coca var. coca and E. coca var. ipadu, are almost indistinguishable phenotypically. A related species, novogranatense has two subspecies, E. novogranatense var. novogranatense and E. novogranatense var. truxillense, which are phenotypically similar, yet morphologically distinguishable. (i.e. they look different, but share the same genotype and environment based variations)
In the coca species, 20 varieties include cocaine in the alkaloid makeup, yet only a few coca species, mostly erythroxylon coca and erythroxylon novogranatense, typically yield enough of the alkaloid to justify commercial cultivation. Other species contain relatively low levels of cocaine alkaloid and subsequently are not cultivated, yet it is clear that some species of wild coca have not been yet exploited, for instance two wild coca species from Venezuela, E. recurrens and E. steyermarkii, were found in 1982 to contain cocaine levels comparable to those found in the commercially cultivated coca species.
In South America, two species and two varieties within each of these species are the most cultivated :

--Erythroxylon coca Species

var. coca

var. ipadu

--Erythroxylon novogranatense Species

var. novogranatense

var. truxillense

Yet the most widely grown variety of coca is Erythroxylon coca var. coca which is cultivated on the eastern slope of the Andes from Bolivia in the south to as far north as central Ecuador.
E. novogranatense var. novogranatense thrives in the drier regions of Colombia and, to a lesser extent, Venezuela. It is also grown at lower elevations where the climate is generally hotter. Erythroxylon coca var. ipadu, is found in southern Colombia, northeastern Peru, and western Brazil in the Amazon basin. E. coca var. ipadu where it grows wild or is primarily cultivated by Indians for their own consumption, and has a lower cocaine alkaloid concentration.

A coca plant resembles a blackthorn bush, and grows to a height of 2-3 m (7-10 ft), more if it is not trimmed. The branches are straight, and the coca leaves, which have a greenish-grey tint, are thin, opaque, oval, more or less tapering at the extremities. A marked characteristic of the coca leaf is an areolated portion bounded by two longitudinal curved lines, one line on each side of the midrib, and more conspicuous on the under face of the coca leaf. Fresh or freshly dried coca leaves are uncurled, with a deep green colour on the upper side, greyish-green on the lower side, whereas older leaves have a brownish colour. Shape and sizes vary from species, ranging from oval to tear shaped or almost round. Leaves have a strong odour, a little like green tea, and a pungent taste.
The coca flowers are small, and disposed in little clusters on short stalks; the corolla (the petals of the coca flower considered as a group) is composed of five yellowish-white petals, the anthers are heart-shaped, and the pistil consists of three carpels united to form a three-chambered ovary. The coca flowers mature into red berries.

One of the ways to identify the variety is to look at the leaves. Both varieties of E. coca (E. coca var. coca and E. coca var. ipadu) have broadly elliptic leaves. The leaf of var. ipadu has a rounded apex, whereas the apex of var. coca is more pointed. The leaf of var. coca is large, thick and dark green in color. The leaf of E. novogranatense var. novogranatense is pale green with a rounded apex and is somewhat narrower and thinner than the leaf of var. ipadu and var.coca. E. novogranatense var. truxillense is very similar to var. novogranatense except that it does not possess the lines parallel to the central vein of the leaf that are characteristic to so many varieties of coca plant.

Coca is mostly grown in Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil, but has also been exported by Western nations ( much in the way of tea and opium) to other areas, for intensive cultivation.
Yet transplantation of the coca plant proved difficult at the time, British experiments with specimens brought back to London’s Kew Botanical Gardens showed the coca plants needed quite specific conditions for alkaloid production. Coca was also transplated to Ceylon, Borneo, Taiwan, and even attempted in Australia, an intensive cultivation effort by colonial powers, aimed strictly at cocaine production. The most successful of the coca growing experiments was in Java ( Indonesia), during the Dutch colonial coca boom ( 1900 to the 1930’s), which was then taken over by Japan ( becoming the world's biggest coca grower, and cocaine producer until WWII, through its satellites). The experiements in Java generated a specie now know as Java coca , which is an Erythroxylum novogranatense var. Novogranatense, originaly transplanted from the Kew garden growing experiments. Java coca contains higher concentrations of cinnamoylcocaines, tropacocaine and four yellow crystalline glucosides.

In the recent years, there have been ( licit and underground) experiments with genetically modified coca plants, but the efforts have focused mostly on producing plants capable of withstanding the fumigation tactics employed by parties trying to eradicate coca fields.

[top]Pharmacology of coca

The most well known pharmacologically active ingredient of coca is the alkaloid cocaine which is found in the amount of about 0.2% in fresh coca leaves, but can in some cases reach 1% to 1.5%. The average cocaine concentration of cultivated species is said to be 0.8%, yet this concentration varies consequently from species to species, cultivation area, and harvest dates and external conditions such as hygrometry and altitude, drier, higher location generally increases the general alkaloid concentration- though this really depends on the plant specie.
Javanese coca has high (1.5 to 2.5% ) concentrations of ecgonine derivatives such as benzoyl ecgonine, methyl ecgonine rather than cocaine
Besides cocaine itself, the coca leaf contains a number of other cocaine related alkaloids, including Methylecgonine cinnamate (tropane alkaloid also know as cinnamoylcocaine), Benzoylecgonine ( cocaine metabolite), Truxilline, Hydroxytropacocaine, Tropacocaine, Ecgonine ( cocaine metabolite and precursor) , Cuscohygrine (pyrrolidine alkaloid), Dihydrocuscohygrine.

While coca leaves are not eaten per se, coca use also forms a nutritional complement, source of vitamins and minerals, which make it an important asset in Andean diet, especially in poorer rural areas. “Chewing” or drinking coca leaf based preparations provides respectable doses of vitamins A, C, B and E, and of phosphorous, iron, potassium, magnesium, calcium and protein, and anti-oxidants.

Here is a chemical analysis of 100gm of coca leaves :
Nitrogen
20.06 mg
Non volatile-alkaloids
0.70 mg
Fat
3.68 mg
Carbohydrates
47.50 mg
Beta carotene
9.40 mg
Alpha carotene
2.76 mg
Vitamin C
6.47 Mg
Vitamin E
40.17 mg

Thiamine (vitamin B1 )
0.73 mg
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) 0.88 mg
Niacine
8.37 mg
Calcium
997.62 mg
Phosphate
412.67 mg
Potassium
1739.33 mg
Magnesium
299.30 mg
Sodium
39.41 mg
Aluminium
17.39 mg
Barium
6.18 mg
Iron
136.64 mg
Strontium
12.02 mg
Boron
6.75 mg
Copper
1.22 mg
Zinc
2.21 mg
Manganese
9.15 mg
Chromium
0.12 mg

[top]Reported alkaloids in coca

- Cocaine ( C.N.S. stimulant and euphoriant dopamine reuptake inhibitor, local anesthetic)
- Ecgonine ( both metabolite and precurser of cocaine, works on carbohydrate metabolism)
- Pectin (a heterosaccharide derived from the cell wall of the coca plant, oral demulcent which allivates sore throats, anti diarrhea)
- Papain (cysteine protease, useful in boosting antibodies, as a teeth whitener and as a remedy in that it breaks down the protein toxins of venom)
- Hygrine (pyrrolidine alkaloid, stimulates saliva glands)
- Nicotine
- Globulin ( one of the two types of serum proteins, the other being albumin, which play a role in immunology by inhibiting certain blood protease)
- Pyridine (heterocyclic aromatic organic compound, stimulates circulation and oxygenation of the brain )
- Quinoline (heterocyclic aromatic organic compound with preservative and disinfectant qualities, balances calcium and phosphorous)
- Coniine ( neurotoxin, local anesthetic)
- Cocamine ( anesthetic, analgesic)
- Reserpine (indole alkaloid with antipsychotic, antidepressant and antihypertensive qualities, blocks the uptake (and storage) of noradrenaline and dopamine into synaptic vesicles by inhibiting the Vesicular Monoamine Transporters, diminishes blood pressure )
- Benzoine ( skin healing effect)
- Inulin (naturally occurring oligosaccharides ie several simple sugars linked together, which increases calcium absorption and possibly magnesium absorption, while promoting intestinal bacteria, and is thus an effective prebiotic, stimulates immuglobine production)
- Atropine ( tropane alkaloid, which lowers the "rest and digest" activity of all muscles and glands regulated by the parasympathetic nervous system )

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[top] The latest Coca threads

 

 

Categories: Ethnobotanicals, Stimulants