All plants have Latin names, some with apparent meanings, others less so. When you read about kratom, you can usually stumble upon its binomial name — Mitragyna speciosa. When kratom is in question, its botanical name reveals the plant’s most potent property — pain relief.
It’s also directly related to kratom’s most beneficial ingredient, mitragynine.
Here’s everything you need to know about this super-strong compound, including the answer to the question on all of our minds — how much mitragynine is in my kratom powder?
But first, what is kratom?
Southeastern Asia, a region with an incredible diversity of cultures, nurtures the world’s best rice. It’s also loved for its fantastic coffee, maize, and cocoa. Recently, it’s been making headlines as motherland and inspiration to one of America’s hottest new writers, Ocean Vuong.
But when someone says Southeastern Asia, all we hear is — kratom.
Even though you can buy kratom from a trusted vendor, you should at least know that recreational users covet kratom for its mood-enhancing effects. However, it doesn’t create a familiar high. Kratom only soothes the body without disturbing the brain’s delicate balance.
In doing so, kratom acts as a potent antidepressant. It is frequently used by recovering opioid addicts to battle the physical and psychological pains of withdrawal.
Asians have been using it as a home remedy to treat everything from diarrhea to fatigue. According to some reports, kratom can enhance libido as well. Most importantly, kratom is highly effective when it comes to pain relief.
Mitragynine as a painkiller
Kratom’s many benefits have made the plant’s family tree a famous one. Found only in Southeast Asia, the tree known as Mitragyna speciosa belongs to the same family as the coffee and gardenia tree. Along with their origin, they also share some of the chemical compounds.
Mitragynine, for instance, is a defining ingredient of Mitragyna trees.
Mitragyna is a genus of tropical trees with two important properties — antimalarial and analgesic. The first one means that these plants are considered effective in treating and preventing malaria.
But unless you’re fighting this horrible disease, you’ll be far more interested in Mitragyna trees’ second defining property, which makes kratom an analgesic. An analgesic is a painkiller — a drug that keeps pain in check in both acute and chronic cases.
How does mitragynine affect the body?
2021 was a big year for kratom, having marked precisely one hundred years since mitragynine was first isolated as a compound. Mitragynine research was finally completed in 1964, which is still a long time ago, considering the time it took for the plant to become famous.
Chemically speaking, mitragynine is an indole-based alkaloid. It connects to the central nervous system through my, delta, and kappa opioid receptors, while also affecting dopamine D2 and serotonin receptors. Speaking, this means it’s pretty successful at pain management.
How much mitragynine is in kratom?
Kratom is full of mitragynine, to which it owes much of its soothing properties.
However, mitragynine is only one of two defining compounds in kratom. The second half of the plant’s chemical structure is dominated by 7-hydroxy-mitragynine, mitragynine’s derivative and metabolite 40 times more potent than its origin alkaloid.
For reference, 7-hydroxy-mitragynine is found to be ten times more potent than morphine. Like how marihuana changes its properties depending on the relationship between THC and CBD, kratom can showcase different potency levels depending on the connection between mitragynine and 7-hydroxy-mitragynine in its chemical structure.
Finally, the amount of mitragynine in your kratom powder depends on a few factors, the most important of them being the variety and the origin of the powder in question. It’s been known that Thai varieties have more mitragynine and less 7-hydroxy-mitragynine, for instance, as opposed to Malaysian varieties, where mitragynine is not as present.
But if you’re asking for a precise number, your kratom supplier might be the only one who can give you a satisfactory answer. If there isn’t a list of ingredients with amounts per gram on your kratom bottle, you should feel free to contact your vendor and insist on knowing the specifics.
In Conclusion
Though one of the most beneficial natural medicines on the market, kratom powder has spent a couple of long years fighting it’s lousy reputation. During this time, scientists have been breaking down its chemical structure and publishing a body of work that’s gradually proving its effectiveness.
Hopefully, kratom will soon be fully legalized and adequately labeled.
You have every right to demand to know what’s in your powder until then.