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There has been a lot of confusion about Kratom leaf, powders, and
extracts lately. Every week, a different kind seems to pop up, confusing the
issue of what is what. At the moment, there seems to be several kinds available,
and we have placed them into a chart, in order of weakest potency to strongest:
• Commercial Kratom Leaf
• Kratom Leaf
• Kratom Leaf – Korth Variety
• Kratom Resin – Regular Resin
• Kratom – Premium Powder
• Kratom Resin – Super Resin
• Kratom – Super Powder
• Kratom – Super Enhanced Leaf
There seems to be two grades of plain Kratom leaf around; a commercial grade
that seems to contain a lot of brown leaves and small leaves. Then, there is a
regular grade that is mostly larger leaves and mostly green leaves.
Next, is the coveted Korth strain; this is a specific species of Kratom that has
red veins running through it. This also seems to be the most potent raw leaf
form of the plant available. There are many venders who claim to have this
strain, but since it is extremely difficult and expensive to come by, most are
probably making false claims.
Then, we move onto extracts. There seem to be only two types of Kratom extracts
available to buy. The first is simply commercial grade leaf extracted into
water, and made into a resin. There was a later version of this resin called
“Super Resin”, but we think that it was the same product as the regular, older
resin, but that it was made with multiple water extractions, rather than just
the one. This would make it a more potent resin, and there would be no need to
change the manufacturing methods of the original resin.
Next, is the most confusion forms of Kratom that is available; the Premium and
the Super leaf. From what we can gather, the premium leaf is a higher grade
Kratom leaf that is concentrated through mechanical sifting. Since most of the
active alkaloids in the Kratom plant are concentrated in the leaves, and
possibly the veins of the leaves, mechanical sifting will separate out all of
the larger pieces left from pulverized Kratom leaf. Most of these larger pieces
are going to be the woody stems of the leaf…which also account for about 60% of
the weight of the Mitragyna speciosa leaves.
As a result, even though the leaf could have been a lower grade to start with,
this highly effective sifting process will result in a product in the form of a
fine powder, hence the name “Premium” attached to it. It is a premium version of
the commercial version, and, since it is a powder, will also mix more easily
with liquids as a smoothie or steeped as a tea.
The finer the particles for any product; whether it is medicine, plants, or
food…the better and more efficiently they will be absorbed, so it is no wonder
that the “Premium Powder” is much more effective and potent than the plain leaf
or the plain commercial leaf.
Then, there’s the “Super Kratom Powder”, who’s mane has several variations, but
all will have “powder” and “Super” in there somewhere. From what we have been
able to discover, the “Super” variety is simply the large leaves ONLY from any
harvest. The large leaves tend to be much more potent than the smaller leaves,
but they are also available in much smaller quantities. This is why this product
is also one of the most expensive ones. It would also account for the noticeable
differences in different orders of Super Kratom, even if it’s from the same
vender. It’s simple a matter of Mother Nature not being consistent, even if the
same size and color leaf if picked by the harvesters.
So, this product also tends to be the darkest in color as well. Super Kratom is
made from Super-size leaves, and the older, larger leaves tend to be a much
darker green. When Kratom leaves are young, they start off as a light green, and
over time, they gain in alkaloid strength and color darkness. This is why only
dark green leaves were picked when Mitragynine speciosa was legal in Thailand.
Only mature leaves were chosen, leaving the new growth to fill out, encouraging
the continued growth of the tree. This is a form of sustainable harvesting, but
we don’t know what harvesting rules are followed presently, partially because
there is such a worldwide and growing demand for this beautiful and sacred
plant.
But, most importantly, there is word of a new kind of Kratom extract that will
replace ALL other forms of Kratom products, EXCEPT the raw leaf. It is
reportedly a STANDARDIZED extract, just like may other herbal products, and
should stop any confusion over what is what and which is which. At the moment,
if someone orders Kratom with a specific title such as “Premium” or “Super”; it
could vary from one vender to the next, or it could even vary from one order to
the next with a single vender, depending on how fast they rotate their stock.
But, the beauty of Standardized Extracts, is that they will be relatively
consistent in POTENCY, across all venders, and especially within a single
vender. If you order from your favorite shop one month, and then order next
year…both products will be virtually identical in potency and consistency. This,
is a great thing!
Now, it will come down to how fast the vender is, what kind of customer service
they have, how they package it, how fresh the product is, their process, and how
much you can trust them to have a true, unadulterated product, that was
manufactured as a true standardized extract, nod NOT as a crude extract like so
many companies still do.
We have seen ads at only one vender so far;
www.IAmShaman.com, but they are also
one of the only venders on the entire web that we trust completely. They have a
Standardized 20:1 Kratom Extract, and a Standardized 10:1 Kratom Extract, and
they say that once they sell out of all of their other Kratom products, that
only that one and the plain leaf will remain. They also have a line of Elixirs
that are reportedly quite pleasant, but there is no word on the fate of those
Elixirs as of yet.
- Stan Seerling
Specific to Mitragyna speciosa
(Kratom):
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