Kola Nuts

Kola vera (SCHUM.)

Names:

N.O.Sterculiaceae,Cola acuminata,Kola seeds, Guru Nuts, Bissy Nuts,Cola Seeds, Guru Nut, Cola Nitida.

History:

Found in Sierra Leone, North Ashanti near the sources of the Nile, West Africa, West Indies, Brazil, Java.

Small pieces are chewed as a digestive aid.

Bissy Tea is from cola acuminata.

Research into control of Multiple Sclerosis produced "Jamaican Bush tea", or "Bissy tea".

The nut is so versatile that these MS researchers coined the name, "Versatea". The trace elements, not the caffeine in the tea produce a relief for MS symptoms.***

Natives of West Indies and Brazil introduced the forty foot species to Western or tropical Africa."Colla" was first seen in the Congo by Father Carli in 1667.

Extracts of Erythroxylon cola used in Coca Cola since before 1886 (prohibition era) by inventor/pharmacist John S. Pemberton.

**The industries 'cola is separated from the cotyledons of the seed kernel and dried to ferment the matter.When dried they turn reddish - brown. They are white when fresh.

Constituents:

caffeine (1-2%)
combined with kolatin when fresh, volatile oils, colouring matter, tannin, traces of theobromine and its isomer, theophylline, kola red, fat, sugar and starch.

Uses:

Antidote to food poisoning, for nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, asthma:
used in combo with ephedra in anti- asthmatic and antihistamine drugs,
diuretic, stimulant, anti-depressant, nervine, heart tonic,
in sparkling drink: spermicide- contraceptive*
has been used successfully to remove clog of food in the esophagus.
*laxative,
in Coca Cola, folk remedy for upset stomach,

red dye from kola nut.

References

** See Tairona Heritage Studies Centre, http://www.lamp.ac.uk/tairona/a8coca.html(notes on Erythroxylum coca), for comprehensive history, uses, bio functions.

*** See Naomi Daniels Bissy tea for Multiple Sclerosishttp://www.jamaican bushteas.com/for concepts regarding tonic for MS

Constituents, History and Uses : Mrs.Grieves, A Modern Herbal, and the Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Herbalism, editor Malcolm Stuart

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