GUARANA Paullinia cupana var. sorbilis

Brazilian Guarana seed powder $12/8 oz or $20/lb 
Brazilian whole Guarana seed $10/8 oz or $16/lb

What is Guaraná?
Guaraná (pronounced wah-rah-NAH) is an ancient Amazonian drug derived from the seeds of the fast-growing perennial vine, Paullinia cupana variety sorbilis. It is most often available in the form of powdered or granulated seeds. The traditional native method of manufacturing hard sticks or balls is considered to provide a superior product, although these forms rarely are seen outside of Amazonian markets.

Pharmacology of Guaraná
Guaraná has gained a reputation as a potent stimulant and aphrodisiac because of its high caffeine content. In fact, it has three limes the amount caffeine of coffee, but the seeds also contain considerable amounts of fats, oils and resins which contribute to the overall effect. Some of these factors act as time-release absorption agents, giving Guaraná its smooth, steady and lengthy stimulating property. Other factors being studied seem to be responsible for a long-term fortifying ability as a healthy tonic, backing its traditional reputation as a panacea drug for warding off many of the rampant diseases of the Amazon, including malaria and amoebic dysentery.

"Guaraná contains up to 5% caffeine, tannin, saponin, resin, starch, a red dye, and guaranin, a little studied essential oil. The oil has mild psychoactive and aphrodisiac effects." (Rätsch, p.91)

"It has the same chemical composition as caffeine, theine and cocaine, and the same physiological action" (Grieve, p.381)

"The short-term medicinal effects or guaraná are commonly thought to result from a high content of caffeine and associated alkaloids, as well as from considerable amounts of tannin. Future research may well show that various saponins also play an important part in the drug’s pharmacology, particularly with regard to its long-term influence as a general tonic and prophylactic."... "Trace amounts of one saponin known as timbonine - similar to the compounds reported in the various timbó fish poisons used by Amazonian Indians - were reported by the German chemist Peckholt in the last century, but otherwise little interest has been shown in examining the non-alkaloidal properties of Guaraná. This would seem to be a grave oversight, particularly in the light of recent research into the therapeutic properties of ginseng and other Old World stimulants, which have demonstrated clearly that the pharmacological activity of such plants is due mainly to their saponin contents." (Henman, p.311-315)

Cultivation of Guaraná
Guaraná has been traditionally cultivated by natives in the Maués region of Amazonian Brazil as a houseyard crop. The family-based Guaraná orchards of the Satere-Mawé Indians are a perfect example of an ecological, sustainable agriculture suited to the Amazon. Young wild seedlings, one to four years old, are brought from the rainforest and planted beneath the shade of manioc plants, the native food staple. These gardens are traditionally created by slashing and burning a small clearing in the forest, leaving felled logs and debris to gradually compost, providing nutrients while protecting the soil from erosion and acting as a mulch against weeds. These transplanted Guaraná vines are given small wood or bamboo trellises for support and will begin to produce crops of seed within the second or third year, just as the manioc crop reaches its end. These Guaraná orchards remain highly productive for many years and require very little maintenance. Blooming once a year during the short dry season, the bee-pollinated flowers set inch-size fruits in clusters like grapes, with each fruit capsule bearing one to three seeds.

Processing of Guaraná
Much of the commercial Guaraná crop is consumed by the Brazilian soft-drinks industry, where the seeds are extracted and processed. Carbonated Guaraná soft drinks are very popular in Brazil, although many brands actually contain rather minute amounts of the natural extract. Higher-quality seeds go into the production of various natural medicines, including Guaraná seed powder, syrups and spray-dried instant Guaraná extract.

Of greater interest are the traditional native forms of Guaraná, hand-made products crafted by pounding, kneading and rolling the seed dough into sticks which are slowly dried over open fires. These extremely hard sticks are then grated when made into a drink. Various qualities or grades of these traditional sticks exist, but the finest are produced in small quantities by the Satere-Mawé tribe of the Maués region of the Amazon. The seeds are first removed from the husk, then carefully roasted. The now-dried, roasted seeds are pounded with enough water to form a pliable dough. Sometimes concentrated tea made from other medicinal (generally aphrodisiac) plants is used in place of plain water. The dough is thoroughly kneaded and formed into cylinders, ensuring there are no air bubbles which might burst and crack the stick during the subsequent, slow smoke-curing process. The final result, after several weeks of drying, is the brittle stick from which doses of Guaraná powder are rasped to prepare the drink. These native Guaraná sticks are ideal, easily-transportable trade items which can be stored between annual harvests without molding in the Amazonian climate, as would whole seeds or powder.

How to Use Guaraná
Whole seeds can be ground to a fine powder in a coffee grinder. The seed powder can be consumed in several ways. It is generally taken as a cold water suspension of the seed powder (never prepared as a hot infusion, typical of other herbal teas). Simply stirring the powder into water creates a muddy slurry which is rapidly quaffed, followed by a chaser of plain water to rinse the mouth of any particles. A typical, good dose is a rounded teaspoonful (about 4 grams) of seed powder stirred into 3 ounces of water. Alternatively, the powder itself can be placed in the mouth and washed down with water. Some prefer packing the powder into capsules. It also blends well with honey at a ratio of 1/3 powder to 2/3 honey. Most users find a 2 to 4 gram amount to induce a pleasurable degree of stimulation, although larger dose levels lead to more highly-propelled, long-lasting states of energy and even intoxication.

The traditional Guaraná stick is grated dry using the rasp-like bone from the tongue of the large, Amazonian pirarucu fish. These shavings are stirred into cold water, although they are not especially soluble and the finer the particles are, the better the suspension will be. Guaraná sticks are sometimes grated wet by rubbing on the pirarucu bone or sometimes a suitable rock, immersed directly into the gourd of water used to prepare the drink. This wet-grating method is considered to result in a far superior suspension and hence a more easily-digested and better-tasting beverage.

"Particles of Guaraná, plainly visible to the naked eye, are present in the prepared drink in the form of a milky suspension. and a certain sediment always forms on the bottom of the receptacle. It seems likely, therefore, that the stimulant properties are absorbed very slowly through the intestinal tract, with the effect of a single dose often being noticeable for a full six hours, or twice as long as an average cup of tea or coffee." (Henman, p.316)

"The resulting cold infusion has a very bitter pee-like taste and is taken as a preliminary to more exotic drugs such as Banisteriopsis caapi and Anadenanthera peregrina… for all its mildness our informants were unanimous in classifying Paullinia along with the better known and more psychedelic plants." (Colchester in Henman, p.335)

References
Henman, Anthony Richard, Guaraná (Paullinia cupana var. sorbilis): Ecological and Social Perspectives on an Economic Plant of the Central Amazon Basin, Journal of Ethnopharmacology vol.6 no.3 (1982), pp. 311-338

Grieve, Maude, A Modern Herbal, Dover Publ., New York, l97l, p.38l

Watson, Cythia Mervis, Love Potions, Tarcher/ Perigee Books, Los Angeles, 1993, p.140

Rätsch, Christian, Dictionary of Sacred and Magical Plants, Prism Press, Dorset, 1992, pp 90-91