Monday, June 26, 2017

What effect does Vein Color really have on Kratom?

Does the vein color really matter when it comes to the aroma your kratom has?

Every Kratom Tree produces every vein color throughout it's life. Mature leaf supposedly has green veins, while young leaves are red. 

1)Which color vein has which effect? Green go, Red slow, right? What about White? How about Yellow?
2)If the color of your Kratom is determined by the color of the vein, where does yellow come from? How about golden?
3)If premium Kratom has all of the stem and vein picked out, how could it have such a dramatic effect on final overall color and aroma of the finished powder?
4)Isn't all Kratom leaf green, regardless of the vein color, and doesn't leaf make up the bulk of the powder? Shouldn't all kratom be green regardless of vein color?
5)What theory would explain why different color veins would have different effects, given that all kratom is one of only two species/genotypes?
6)Finally, if it's not the vein color that determines the color of the powder, what the hell does?
If you can't answer all of these questions, then hear me out (just a theory):

The color of the powder as a result of oxidation most definitely has a different aroma, because it has a different chemical composition as determined by the sun. The ratio of stem and vein to leaf is too high to cause any noticeable color change from the addition/removal of it. Mitragynine, Morphine, and 7ohm, have mu opioid receptor values of 5, 10, 150 respectively (15 times the strength of Morphine). Since the 7ohm is converted from Mg by the sun, the color of kratom as a result of oxidation should make a marked difference in aroma as these 2 arguably strongest alkaloids in this plant trade off. It produces only trace amounts of 7ohm. The rest of the 7ohm found in this plant is converted from Mitragynine through oxidation from the sun. Oxidation turns green leaf lighter (white) at first, then eventually red/brown. So heavily oxidized leaf is red, which in turn is high in 7ohm, and lower in Mg (as most of it has been converted), which would explain the different effect that reds have vs greens (shade dried). Whites, presumably would fall somewhere in the middle with light oxidation, and both alkaloids.

So, the color of kratom (from oxidaiton) is an indicator of the ratio of Mg to 7ohm and not what color vein it once had and was removed anyway. The difference between these 2 main alkaloids is so significant that it could easily explain the differences in effect among different color kratom, definitely more so than the color of the vein. Doesn't it seem too coincidental that the effects from differences in oxidized color are exactly the same as the differences that vein color is supposed to have? They can't both be predictors for effect can they?

Vein color means Jack. What little there is remaining in the powder after it's all picked out grinds down to specks: Red veins turn into little black specks, and green veins turn into little white / beige specks. Stem and vein is denser than leaf and doesn't grind as fine. Look at your bags closely, you'll see it.

So, here's my controversial answer to the age old question of does vein color effect aroma? Nope. Not a bit of difference. i could see white or red veins being disadvantageous to have actually, as they are younger, ie immature. Why would you want a less developed plant? what could you hope to gain by having less alkaloids (harvesting prematurely)? It is possible that higher concentrations of certain alkaloids could make the effect lopsided. It appears to have been something that was grossly misunderstood or misrepresented, or both. It could just be a knucklehead move, by a bunch of knuckleheaded Indonesians. 

Although there appear to be 3 different vein colors (indicative of maturity), there isn't anything physiologically inherent about a particular vein color that would warrant such a diverse array of effects and aromas. The color, along with the naming conventions of K merely help to categorize and describe a set of effects from the various aromas. A plant's vein color has very little to do with it's aroma. Just because every plant produces all vein colors throughout it's life, doesn't mean that every plant is capable of producing every effect, does it? Surely strain genetics must play a bigger role than the age of the plant. it's the oxidized color, and the presence/absence of this incredibly strong alkaloid 7ohm, that explains the differences in effects.

One thing to note here: is that very young kratom is known to have higher concentrations of 4 alkaloids than it's mature counterpart. What could the ramifications be of having those higher concentrations? What color vein does young Kratom have? One study cites red, while the consensus among exporters seems to be white. We know that there's definitely a difference in the alkaloid profile. But, what effect does that have, and which color is the vein? Can this minor difference account for the dramatic differences in leaf?

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