UH scientists may have solved kava mystery

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By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai’i — A team of University of Hawai’i scientists may have solved the mystery of why some Europeans who used products containing kava extract suffered severe liver damage, prompting a number of nations to ban sales of the herbal supplement.

The culprit may be a compound found in the stem peelings and leaves of the kava plant — known in Hawai’i as ‘awa — but not in the roots that are used to make the traditional kava drink consumed by Pacific Islanders.

Just to be safe, people should avoid tea or anything else made from the leaves or stems of the plant, according to C.S. Tang, professor of molecular biosciences and biosystems engineering at UH-Manoa.

Bans in Singapore, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere wiped out pharmaceutical sales of kava and virtually destroyed it as an export crop in Hawai’i. While kava supplements are not banned in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory in March 2002 warning of the potential risk of severe liver injury from dietary supplements containing kava.

The health alarms left farmers in Hamakua and elsewhere with crops that were hardly worth harvesting.

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The Future of Hawaii’s commercial ‘Awa industry

STRATEGIES for saving Hawaii’s commercial kava industry

1) Promotion of Kava

  1. Put stories in the press about kava
  2. Participate in educational/tasting events, tell the kava story
  3. Hold annual kava festival

2) Increase public access to kava beverage

  1. Open more kava cafes- at least 6 in US (Honolulu, Hilo, Kona, Maui?, Eugene, OR, Baca Raton, FL
  2. Move into other food /beverage venues–cafes, Starbucks, Jamba juice, internet caf?
  3. Develop a Small business innovative research grant; for Kava beverage making machine because hand squeezing limits production, raises labor costs. Proposals have been submitted by AHA, Puu Hoku Ranch
  4. Develop a grant to develop a kava beverage that is shelf-stable product; (check with Lebot if he can share his formula particularly amylase enzyme use.

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