Fundamentals of Curing by Cornelia Llamas

So you've made the leap and started growing your own kratom. Well now what? When harvest time comes, what do you actually do? Whether you plan to make tea, powder or extract, the first step is to rinse the plant material. Safe food handling measures are observed. But what happens next? When it comes to the curing/drying/processing of plant material, there is a widespread air of mystery. If you search Google, you'll see there's really no information out there on this. To complicate things, a lot of powder salesmen, not to mention 90% of the internet, will try to tell you that green kratom comes from green vein leaves, red from red vein leaves, and so on, that these are separate strains of plant. This is a misnomer and a widespread myth so ingrained in American kratom culture, unlearning it can pose a challenge. The truth is that various methods of processing are applied to kratom leaves after harvest to yield different colors, alkaloid profiles and energetic effects. Each production house has its own set of methods. In other words, powder "strains" are manmade and result from the curing process, not from the existence of numerous varieties of kratom trees. An appropriate comparison can be made to the harvesting and processing of tea leaves. Green, white, black and puereh tea are not different strains of tea; they all comes from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. However, different drying processes are applied to the leaves after harvest to yield not only different colors, but the unique tastes and energetic effects associated with each color of tea. Green tea is not a different strain of tea from black tea or white tea. There is only one tea plant. What makes the finished products unique is what humans do to it. And so it is for kratom.

For example: white tea leaves are harvested at a younger age than green tea leaves. However since white tea is less processed, it retains a higher amount of antioxidants compared to green. Black tea leaves are exposed to different levels of heat in the curing process, while puereh tea undergoes a fermented cure. All this transforms a single plant into many varieties of finished product. The same concept can be applied to kratom. It's all from the same plant, Mitragyna speciosa. Kratom is kratom. It's what you do to it that yields the color difference and the difference in effects. Finished powders can vary drastically in everything from color, texture, taste and feeling. These variables, although certainly influenced by plant genetics and environmental factors, are largely results of how the product is handled and manipulated by man. There are dozens of active alkaloids in kratom, as well as flavonoids and others desirable compounds. Alkaloid profiles vary from plant to plant, influenced by genetic and environmental factors, and the profiles are in constant flux. Dry season kratom, for example, often has a significantly higher percentage of mitragynine compared to wet season kratom. Additionally, it is possible to catalyze chemical changes in the leaves after harvest to affect the ratio of these alkaloids to one another other, as well as the profile of flavonoids and others desirable compounds, and this is what is known as curing or processing.

And finally, you need to know that light, heat and humidity are factors proven by scientists to catalyze this chemical conversion by oxidizing the alkaloids. The amount of oxidation is what determines not only the color of the finished powder but the unique energetic effects associated with it. In other words, how you dry your leaves determines whether you get a relaxing red, energizing white or inbetween green. Sun drying in humid Indonesian weather or by other more controlled methods of intentional exposure to heat and humidity produces darker powder by triggering oxidation and/or the secretion of a visibly red color from the leaf material. Indoor drying (in low light, low humidity, low heat) produces greener/lighter powder because the leaves are not heavily oxidized and therefore do not change color much. Generally, the more oxidized darkcolored powder will have a slower onset and have more notable sedative effects, while lighter lessoxidized powders will hit faster and be more energetic.

Cornelia Llama enjoys growing kratom and is passionate about sharing new seed-sown genetic lines of kratom with the community.

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