Marek Chawarski
All Authors:T. Karunakaran, V. B. Kasinather. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
Background:
In Southeast Asia, freshly-collected kratom leaves or water-based preparations of freshly-collected leaves are consumed. No serious adverse effects or fatalities are reported in any Southeast Asian country. In the US, products labeled as “kratom” are manufactured from dried and oxidized leaf material and sold as powders, capsules, or extracts, often labelled as “not for human consumption.” Serious adverse affects and fatalities attributed to consumption of “kratom” labelled products were reported in the US.
Methods:
Fresh kratom leaves were used within 2 hours of harvesting to prepare water and ethanol extracts that were analyzed using LCMS MS/MS to evaluate their full phytochemical content. Unlike water, ethanol is an organic compound, in which the hydroxy group is covalently bonded to the ethyl group. No heat, light, or catalysts were applied during alcohol maceration when preparing the analyzed samples.
Results:
Both extracts contained Mitragynine and several known Mitragynine congeners while 7-hydroxymitragynine was detected solely in the water extract. Mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine are reported to be unstable and degrading, possibly over short periods of time; compounds resulting from the process of degradation of Mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine are unknown, and 7-hydroxymitragynine was reported to have 13-fold mu-opioid receptor agonist opioid effect as compared to morphine and 46-fold greater opioid effect as compared to Mitragynine.
Conclusion:
The absence of 7-hydroxymitragynine in the ethanolic liquid extract indicates that Mitragynine oxidative process has not occurred during ethanol maceration supporting a hypothesis that 7-hydroxymitragynine is a post-harvest, oxidative derivative that is not present in freshly-collected leaves.