Kola nut

Another group of natural flavoring ingredients comprises those obtained by extraction from certain plant products such as vanilla beans, Hcotice root, St. John s bread, orange and lemon peel, coffee, tea, kola nuts, catechu, cherry, elm bark, cocoa nibs, and gentian root. These products are used in the form of alcohohc infusions or tinctures, as concentrations in alcohol, or alcohol—water extractions termed fluid or soHd extracts. Official methods for their preparation and specifications for all products used in pharmaceuticals are described (54,55). There are many flavor extracts for food use for which no official standards exist the properties of these are solely based on suitabiUty for commercial appHcations (56). 

Nuts have many uses, both industrial and domestic. For instance, the ivory nut, or tagua, is a source material for the manufacture of buttons and turnery articles. The kola nut supplies ingredients for popular cola beverages in the United States (see Carbonated beverages). StTychnos nux-vomica provides the important medicine and poison, strychnine. The areca or betel nut is chewed by the Indian and Malayan people as a narcotic a slice of the nut is placed in a leaf of the pepper plant Piper betle) together with a pinch of lime the mixture is an acrid, astringent narcotic that dyes the mouth red, blackens and destroys the teeth. The areca nut contains, among other alkaloids, arecoline, an active anthelminthic widely used in veterinary practice for the treatment of tapeworm infections. 

Caffeine consumption is primarily due to coffee, tea and soft drinks. In the U.S., it is estimated that coffee contributes to 75% of the total caffeine intake, tea is 15%, and soda with caffeine accounts for 10% 5 chocolate and other caffeine-containing foods and medications contribute relatively little to overall caffeine exposure. Caffeine also varies by sources tea leaves contain 1.5 to 3.5% caffeine kola nuts contain 2% caffeine and roasted coffee beans contain 0.75 to 1.5% caffeine.6 Coffee varies in caffeine content some analyses have estimated that caffeine may range from 0.8 to 1.8%, depending on the type of coffee.7 Crops of coffee, tea, and cocoa are very similar in their production periods and their useful life in production. Typically coffee, tea, and cocoa trees can be productive with crops every 5 years for a total period of 40 years,8 or an estimated 8 yields per tree. 

Kola nut, also known as cola nut, cola, and African kola nut, is the seed kernel of a several large trees native to Africa, ft is extremely popular in the tropics as a caffeine-containing stimulant. Historically, it was believed to help hunters endure fatigue when food was not available. Today, kola nut is a stimulant and is believed to be an appetite suppressant, antidepressant, diuretic (water pill), and astringent (a material that causes body tissues to tighten). 

Kola nuts contain up to 3.5% caffeine. Theophylline and theobromine are present in smaller amounts (i.e., less than 1% theobromine). Also... 

Morton JF. (1992). Widespread tannin intake via stimulants and masticatories, especially guarana, kola nut, betel vine, and accessories. Basic Life Sci. 59 739-65. 

John Pemberton of Atlanta, Georgia, markets Coca-Cola as an alternative to alcohol, which had been banned in the city. The new drink includes extracts of the coca leaf and kola nuts. 

Caffeine is derived by extraction of coffee beans, tea leaves, and kola nuts. It is also prepared synthetically. Much of the caffeine of commerce is a by-product of decaffeinized coffee manufacture. The compound is purified by a series of recrystallizations. Caffeine finds use in medicine and in soft drinks. Caffeine is also available as the hydrobromide and as sodium benzoate, winch is a mixture of caffeine and sodium benzoate, containing 47-50% anhydrous caffeine and 50-53% sodium benzoate. This mixture is more soluble in water than pure caffeine. A number of nonprescription (pain relief) drugs contain caffeine as one of several ingiedients. Caffeine is a known cardiac stimulant and in some persons who consume significant amounts, caffeine can produce ventricular premature beats. 

Caffeine is a naturally occurring substance found in the leaves, seeds, or fruits of more than 60 plants. These include coffee and cocoa beans, kola nuts, tea leaves, guarana (Paulinia cupana) and Paraguay tea. Thus it is present naturally in many beverages, such as coffee, tea, and cola drinks, or is added in small amounts (up to 200 ppm) in some soft drinks and in foods such as chocolate. Caffeine is obtained by solvent or supercritical fluid extraction from green coffee beans, mainly during the preparation of decaffeinated coffee. 

Theobromine is an alkaloid found in the cocoa shell, tea (only in very small amounts), and kola nuts, but it is not found in coffee. In cocoa, its concentration is generally about seven times as great as CF. Although CF is relatively scarce in cocoa, it is mainly because of TB that cocoa is stimulating. TB is considerably weaker than CF and TP, having about one-tenth the stimulating effect of either. Its diuretic properties are well known (253), however, and it is also used in other applications in the pharmaceutical field. 

The kola nut, source of some of the flavoring of cola drinks, also has a bit of caffeine. About 5% of the 35 mg in a standard 9.5 oz (280 ml) serving of cola is naturally present from the kola nuts. The caffeine in sodas is added by the manufacturer. 

It is true that when Coca-Cola was first produced in the mid-1880s it contained cocaine. In fact, the drink derives its name from its two medicinal ingredients — coca leaves and kola nuts. No one really knows how much cocaine Coca-Cola originally contained, but it certainly contained some. By 1902, the amount of cocaine in an ounce of Coca-Cola syrup was as little as 1/400 of a grain, and by 1905 all cocaine was eliminated from the beverage. 

KOLA NUTS -- Cola nitida. Family Sterculiaceae (Cacao family). 

Many organic compounds are obtained from natural sources through extraction. This method takes advantage of the solubility characteristics of a particular organic substance with a given solvent. In the experiment here, caffeine is readily soluble in hot water and is thus separated from the tea leaves. Caffeine is one of the main substances that make up the water solution called tea. Besides being found in tea leaves, caffeine is present in coffee, kola nuts, and cocoa beans. As much as 5% by weight of the leaf material in tea plants consists of caffeine. 

The two alkaloids theobromine and theophylline are isomeric, theobromine being the 3-7-di-methyl xanthine and theophylline the I-3-di-methyl xanthine. Theobromine is the principal alkaloid of the cocoa bean. Cacao theohroma. It occurs also in small amounts in kola nuts and tea leaves. Theophylline is present in small amounts in tea. They both resemble caffeine in being crystalline, weak bases. 

Coca-Cola was originally flavored with extracts from the leaves of the coca plant and the kola nut. Coca is grown in northern South America the Indians of Peru and Bolivia have for centuries chewed the leaves to relieve the pangs of hunger and high mountain cold. The cocaine from the leaves causes local anesthesia of the stomach. It has limited use as a local anesthetic for surgery on the eye, nose, and throat. Unfortunately it is now a widely abused illicit drug. Kola nuts contciin about 3% caffeine as well as a number of other alkaloids. The kola tree is in the same family as the cacao tree from which cocoa cmd chocolate cu-e obtained. Modem cola drinks do not contain cocaine however, Coca-Cola contains 43 mg of caffeine per... 

Many naturally occurring plant extracts are reputed to possess anti-irritant properties and have been recommended for use in cosmetic formulations. These include such diverse mixtures as tea tree oil, borage seed oil, Paraguay tea extract. Kola nut extract, oil of rosemary, and lavender oil. It is, however, difficult to standardize plant extracts and there may be a great deal of lot-to-lot variability in constituents. Understandably, this makes identification and isolation of any specific active constituent complex and laborious. The extracts may be oily or hydrophilic and contain compounds such as a-bisabolol, xanthines, polyphenols, and phytosterols.There is great potential in the use of plant extracts for irritation and sensitization reduction. This has been established within the cosmetic industry, and interest here has stimulated activity into reducing variability by more consistent cultivation techniques and more standardized extraction methods. 

The slaves found great biodiversity in Brazil and set about deciphering same, to survive both physically and culturally. Adaptation to the new habitat and the new social conditions gave way to substitution of indispensable plants that were not found here [40]. When it was not possible to find these plants, the Black population developed strategies so that these species could be brought from Africa [40]. Species such as Cola acuminata (P. Beauv.) Schott Endl. (obi), Garcinia kola Heckel (orobo kola nut) and Elaeis guineensis Jacq. (dende oil palm) were introduced in Brazil [41]. 

A drug product that contains the same active constituent as a botanical product would be regulated according to different paths, as long as they are marketed with different intent. The combination of caffeine with any other stimulant, such as ephedrine alkaloids2, may not be sold as an OTC drag product (20). However, dietary supplement products that contain ma huang (a source of ephedrine) and natural product stimulants such as kola nut (50% caffeine) are permitted on the market under DSHEA. 

More traditional soiuces include Ilex and Paullinia speeies valned by the indigenous people of South American, whereas Cola spp. are an important social drag for West African peoples 68). Kola nuts have also played an important role in western Africa as a valuable commodity. The Yoraba farmers of western Nigeria recognize at least foiu kinds of kola nuts, which probably belong to three different Cola species (C. acuminata, C. nitida and C. verticillatd) 3). 

Derivation By extraction of coffee beans, tea leaves, or kola nuts also synthetically. Much of the caffeine of commerce is a by-product of decaffeinated-coffee manufacture. 

Numerous ethical drug companies also had saw palmetto-based formulas for similar problems. The Tilden Company, which had started producing herbal medicines in New Lebanon, New York, in 1824, listed three saw palmetto formulas in its 1937 catalog, including a saw palmetto compound that contained Serenoa, sandalwood, kola nut, and celery seed. 

John Wyeth and Brother of Philadelphia, in a 1901 catalog, listed a saw palmetto compound that also contained kola nut, parsley seed, and coca leaves. They recommend it for urinary complaints, prostatic irritation, and catarrhal conditions, and as an aphrodisiac. Major pharmaceutical companies, including Lilly, Squibb, and Merck, all produced products from this aromatic berry. 

A Corsican chemist created Vin Mariani, a wine containing small amounts of cocaine, in the late nineteenth century. The popularity of this drink prompted American John Pemberton to create Coca-Cola, a blend of coca leaves and African Kola nuts. Soda fountains dispensing this drink opened in Georgia and soon spread across the United States. 

John Pemberton markets syrupy beverage consisting of a blend of coca leaves and African kola nuts, called Coca-Cola. U.S. Army Surgeon General William Alexander Hammond advocates the use of cocaine for medical purposes. 

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