Sceletium Tortuosum - Kanna Spagyric Extract
Kanna - Sceletium tortuosum
General Information: Mood enhancing. Calming.
Commercially sold as an anti-depressant botanical supplement with pre-clinical and clinical supporting trials in a form known as Zembrin. "Kanna" as it is called in South Africa, is used as a calming, mood enhancing, anxiety and stress reducing qualities. Its active constituents are the mesembrine class of alkaloids with four major derivatives responsible for its safe therapeutic usages. Kanna has low reported side effects in the scientific literature but word on the street is the onset can be rather powerful for the first few doses. After which your responsiveness will acclimate. It is becoming known more so in materialist cultures as a 'legal high'.
Formally, Sceletium tortuosum, is a radically natural approach to combating the mental anguish and despair our existentialist culture is always projecting over us.
Kanna is also a triumphant alternative to nicotine fixations and a whole range of physical and mental addictions.
A verified Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI), S. tortuosum metabolites provide a highly evolved form of anti-depression measures for anyone experiencing forms of depression.
At first I identified Kanna with the intellectual sphere of Mercury, but upon reconsideration its clear Kanna more represents the Lunar emotional sphere.
A highly potent class of alkaloids known as Mesembrane compounds have an affect on the amount of dopamine stored, released, and available to the brain.
It does this by acting on what is popularly referred to (within biochemistry) as the “God Gene”, formally, known as the VMAT-2 protein (SLC18A2 gene). This gene supposedly is a very critical indicator into whether a person will have spiritual and/or religious tendencies.
The 4 Mesembranol alkaloids along with other synergistic affects in the Kanna work together to empirically increase the amount of VMAT-2 production. This allows for more rewards and more feelings of goodness. More elevated baseline mood and the alleviating of anxiety.
"Several structurally similar compounds were described in literature that may contribute toward the activity of the key constituents, for example Δ7-mesembrenone, mesembranol, mesembrenol, tortuosamine, sceletium alkaloid A4, etc. [1–3].
It should always be noted though, geographic and/or growing conditions, age of the plants, as well as the process of fermentation influence the alkaloid content and/or composition [4]. The total alkaloid content in the Mesembryanthemaceae species is very low (1 %–1.5 %), but Sceletium tortuosum showed the highest levels [5].
That is why it is important to KNOW your medicine provider and what the source of the medicine is.
Take it in a glass of water, coffee, wine, or drop it under the tongue for instantaneous affect.
All organic ingredients including gluten free wild harvested 95% Fox grape spirit.
Warning! This is a powerful herb and many report a slight nausea the very first time. Kanna should not be taken with any other anti-depressant MAOIs, SNRIs or SSRIs (including herbal ones like Saint Johns Wort).
Spagyria
Sourced from sacred botanical dealer in Uluwatu France. 1.823 oz of fermented and dried Kanna was soxhlet extracted until the solvent ran clear. Solvent was 9 oz of 75.5% ABV everclear brand spirit. The Kanna Body was then placed in calcination for 10+ hours and reduced to white ash. The alkali mineral salts were separated, filtered and crystallized from distilled water. Alkali salts were ground to fine powder and reintroduced into the solution. The Spagyric is then cohobated (circulated) for 24 hours before being bottled.
SOLVENT
Solvent was chosen based off the active compounds relative LogP values
Isolation of Mesembrine Alkaloids
Many alkaloid isolations using varied techniques and different species of plant have been reported (Arndt and Kruger, 1970, Bastida et al., 1989, Doepke et al., 1981, Jeffs et al., 1970, Jeffs et al., 1982, Jeffs and Capps, 1979, Nieuwenhuis et al., 1981, Rimington and Roets, 1937, Shikanga et al., 2011). A couple of examples are presented below with the isolated yield from each. Note that the isolated yield is not only dependent on the efficiently of the method, but also on the abundance of the alkaloids in the starting plant material used.
3.3.1. Alcohol extraction with neutral alumina column
Fresh 3 year old plants of Sceletium strictum were homogenized with 95% ethanol, heated and filtered (Jeffs et al., 1971). The material used in this study had been grown from seed in a greenhouse for three years and was identified by L. Bolus, Bolus Herbarium, University of Cape Town, South Africa. The solid was further Soxhlet extracted with methanol. The combined extracts were concentrated, treated with sodium carbonate and extracted with chloroform. Evaporation of the chloroform left the crude alkaloid (2.5% w/w). The crude alkaloid fraction was eluted on neutral alumina column using a linear gradient of benzene against ethyl acetatefollowed by ethyl acetate/methanol and finally methanol. Fractions were analysed by GC-FID. The following materials were obtained from the fractions in the following amounts: mesembrine (1) 0.067%; mesembrenone (2) 0.025%; mesembranol (4) 0.058%; mesembrenol (5) 0.71%; (See Fig. 1 for structures). Note that the major alkaloid from this plant species was mesembrenol.
Krstenansky et al.
Sources
Manganyi, Madira Coutlyne, et al. "A chewable cure “kanna”: biological and pharmaceutical properties of Sceletium tortuosum." Molecules 26.9 (2021): 2557.
Meyer, Golo MJ, et al. "GC-MS, LC-MSn, LC-high resolution-MSn, and NMR studies on the metabolism and toxicological detection of mesembrine and mesembrenone, the main alkaloids of the legal high “Kanna” isolated from Sceletium tortuosum." Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry 407.3 (2015): 761-778.
Krstenansky, John L. "Mesembrine alkaloids: Review of their occurrence, chemistry, and pharmacology." Journal of ethnopharmacology 195 (2017): 10-19.
