Editing Coca (section)

== Traditional uses ==
[[File:Folha de coca.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Man holding coca leaf in Bolivia]]
[[File:Three coca leaves.jpeg|thumb|Three coca leaves on one stem are lucky in Quechuan folklore]]

=== Medicine ===
Traditional medical uses of coca are foremost as a stimulant to overcome fatigue, hunger, and thirst. It is considered particularly effective against [[altitude sickness]].<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web|url=https://www.tni.org/en/primer/coca-leaf-myths-and-reality|title=Coca leaf: Myths and Reality|date=5 August 2014|website=tni.org}}</ref> It also is used as an [[anesthetic]] and analgesic to alleviate the pain of headache, [[rheumatism]], wounds and sores, etc. Before stronger anaesthetics were available, it also was used for broken bones, childbirth, and during [[trepanning]] operations on the skull.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> The high calcium content in coca explains why people used it for bone fractures.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> Because coca constricts blood vessels, it also serves to oppose bleeding, and coca seeds were used for [[nosebleed]]s. Indigenous use of coca has also been reported as a treatment for [[malaria]], [[peptic ulcer|ulcers]], [[asthma]], to improve [[digestion]], to guard against bowel laxity, as an [[aphrodisiac]], and credited with improving [[longevity]]. Modern studies have supported a number of these medical applications.<ref name="Weil"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/>

=== Nutrition ===
Raw coca leaves, chewed or consumed as tea or mate de coca, are rich in nutritional properties. Specifically, the coca plant contains essential minerals (calcium, potassium, phosphorus), vitamins ([[vitamin B1|B1]], [[vitamin B2|B2]], [[vitamin C|C]], and [[vitamin E|E]]) and nutrients such as protein and fiber.<ref>James, A., Aulick, D., Plowman, T., 1975 "Nutritional Value of Coca", Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University 24 (6): 113–119.</ref><ref>Harvard Study – Nutritional Value of Coca Leaf (Duke, Aulick, Plowman 1975)</ref>

=== Religion ===
Coca has also been a vital part of the religious cosmology of the Andean peoples of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and northwest Argentina from the [[Pre-Inca cultures|pre-Inca period]] through to the present. Coca leaves play a crucial part in offerings to the [[apus]] (mountains), [[Inti]] (the sun), or [[Pachamama]] (the earth). Coca leaves are also often read in a form of [[divination]] analogous to [[reading tea leaves]] in other cultures. As one example of the many traditional beliefs about coca, it is believed by the miners of [[Cerro de Pasco]] to soften the veins of [[ore]], if masticated (chewed) and thrown upon them<ref name="EB1911"/> (see '''Cocamama''' in [[Inca mythology]]). In addition, coca use in shamanic rituals is well documented wherever local native populations have cultivated the plant. For example, the Tayronas of Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta would chew the plant before engaging in extended meditation and prayer.<ref name="banrep.gov.co">{{cite web |author=Museo del Oro, Banco de la Republica |url=http://www.banrep.gov.co/museo/eng/expo_bogota3c.htm |title=Museo del Oro, Colombia |language=es |publisher=Banrep.gov.co |access-date=2012-11-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511180916/http://www.banrep.gov.co/museo/eng/expo_bogota3c.htm |archive-date=2013-05-11 }}</ref>

==== Chewing ====
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2011}}
In Bolivia bags of coca leaves are sold in local markets and by street vendors. The activity of chewing coca is called ''mambear'', ''chacchar'' or ''acullicar'', borrowed from [[Quechua languages|Quechua]], ''coquear'' (Northwest Argentina), or in Bolivia, ''picchar'', derived from the [[Aymara language]]. The Spanish ''masticar'' is also frequently used, along with the slang term "bolear," derived from the word "bola" or ball of coca pouched in the cheek while chewing. Typical coca consumption varies between 20 and 60 grams per day,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/bulletin/bulletin_1952-01-01_2_page009.html|title=UNODC - Bulletin on Narcotics - 1952 Issue 2 - 008|last=ZAPATA-ORTIZ|first=Vicente|website=www.unodc.org|access-date=2018-06-20}}</ref> and contemporary methods are believed to be unchanged from ancient times.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} Coca is kept in a woven pouch (''[[Chuspas|chuspa]]'' or ''huallqui''). A few leaves are chosen to form a quid ''(acullico)'' held between the mouth and gums. Doing so may cause a tingling and numbing sensation in the mouth, in similar fashion to the formerly ubiquitous dental anaesthetic [[procaine|novocaine]] (as both [[cocaine]] and novocaine belong to the [[Amino esters|amino ester]] class of [[local anesthetics]]).

Chewing coca leaves is most common in indigenous communities across the central Andean region,<ref name="banrep.gov.co"/> particularly in places like the highlands of Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru, where the cultivation and consumption of coca is a part of the national culture, similar to [[chicha]]. It also serves as a powerful symbol of indigenous cultural and religious identity, amongst a diversity of indigenous nations throughout South America.<ref name="banrep.gov.co"/> Chewing plants for medicinal mostly stimulating effects has a long history throughout the world: [[Khat]] in [[East Africa]] & the [[Arabian Peninsula]], [[Tobacco]] in North America and [[Pituri|Australia]], and [[Betel nut|Areca nut]] in South/Southeast Asia & the Pacific Basin. [[Tobacco]] leaves were also traditionally chewed in the same way in North America (modern [[chewing tobacco]] is typically heavily processed). Khat chewing also has a history as a social custom dating back thousands of years analogous to the use of coca leaves.<ref name="Kciy2">{{cite journal|last=Al-Mugahed|first=Leen|year=2008|title=Khat Chewing in Yemen: Turning over a New Leaf: Khat Chewing Is on the Rise in Yemen, Raising Concerns about the Health and Social Consequences|url=https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-188738635/khat-chewing-in-Yemen-turning-over-a-new-leaf-khat|journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization|volume=86|issue=10|pages=741–42|doi=10.2471/BLT.08.011008|pmc=2649518|pmid=18949206|access-date=9 January 2014|archive-date=10 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310045753/https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-188738635/khat-chewing-in-yemen-turning-over-a-new-leaf-khat|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Llipta on coca leaf.jpeg|thumb|''Llipta'' is used to improve extraction when chewing coca (Museo de la Coca, [[Cusco]], Peru).]]
One option for chewing coca is with a tiny quantity of ''ilucta'' (a preparation of the ashes of the [[quinoa]] plant) added to the coca leaves; it softens their [[astringent]] flavor and activates the [[alkaloids]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} Other names for this basifying substance are ''llipta'' in Peru and the Spanish word ''lejía'', ''[[bleach]]'' in English. The consumer carefully uses a wooden stick (formerly often a spatula of precious metal) to transfer an alkaline component into the quid without touching his flesh with the corrosive substance. The alkali component, usually kept in a gourd (''ishcupuro'' or ''poporo''), can be made by burning [[limestone]] to form unslaked [[quicklime]], burning quinoa stalks, or the bark from certain trees, and may be called ''llipta'', ''tocra'' or ''mambe'' depending on its composition.<ref name="Petersen"/><ref name="Carroll"/> Many of these materials are salty in flavor, but there are variations. The most common base{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} in the [[La Paz]] area of Bolivia is a product known as ''lejía dulce'' (''sweet lye''), which is made from quinoa ashes mixed with [[aniseed]] and cane sugar, forming a soft black putty with a sweet and pleasing flavor. In some places, [[baking soda]] is used under the name ''bico''.

In the [[Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta]], on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia, coca is consumed<ref name="banrep.gov.co"/> by the [[Kogi people|Kogi]], [[Arhuaco people|Arhuaco]], and [[Wiwa language|Wiwa]] by using a special device called [[poporo]].<ref name="banrep.gov.co"/> The poporo is the mark of manhood; it is regarded by men as a good companion that means "food", "woman", "memory", and "meditation". When a boy is ready to be married, his mother initiates him in the use of the coca. This act of initiation is carefully supervised by the Mamo, a traditional priest-teacher-leader.{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}

Fresh samples of the dried leaves, uncurled, are a deep green colour on the upper surface, and a grey-green on the lower surface, and have a strong [[tea]]-like aroma. When chewed, they produce a pleasurable numbness in the mouth, and have a pleasant, [[Piquance|pungent]] taste. They are traditionally chewed with [[lime (material)|lime]] or some other reagent such as [[bicarbonate of soda]] to increase the release of the active ingredients from the leaf. Older species have a [[camphor]]aceous smell and a brownish color, and lack the pungent taste.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Biondich AS, Joslin JD |title=Coca: The History and Medical Significance of an Ancient Andean Tradition |journal=Emerg Med Int |volume=2016 |page=4048764 |date=2016 |pmid=27144028 |pmc=4838786 |doi=10.1155/2016/4048764 |doi-access=free }}</ref> See also ''[[Erythroxylum coca]], and [[Erythroxylum novogranatense]]'' spp.

[[Ypadu|Ypadú]] is an unrefined, unconcentrated powder made from coca leaves and the ash of various other plants.

==== Tea ====
[[File:Mate de Coca Cusco.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A cup of ''[[mate de coca]]'' served in a coffee shop in [[Cuzco]], Peru]]
{{Main|Coca tea}}
Although coca leaf chewing is common only among the indigenous populations,<ref name="ReferenceB"/> the consumption of coca tea (''[[Mate de coca]]'') is common among all sectors of society in the Andean countries, especially due to their high elevations from sea level,<ref name="ReferenceB"/> and is widely held to be beneficial to health, mood, and energy.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> Coca leaf is sold packaged into teabags in most grocery stores in the region, and establishments that cater to tourists generally feature coca tea. Coca tea is legal in [[Colombia]], [[Peru]], [[Bolivia]], [[Argentina]], and [[Ecuador]].<ref>{{cite news|title=When Hugo met Oliver|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/964f5618-7997-11df-85be-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1uDD4DUIq|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211181200/https://www.ft.com/content/964f5618-7997-11df-85be-00144feabdc0#axzz1uDD4DUIq|archive-date=11 December 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|newspaper=[[Financial Times]] Magazine|date=June 18, 2010|author=Matthew Garrahan|access-date=7 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Richard K. Ries|author2=Shannon C. Miller|author3=David A. Fiellin|title=Principles of Addiction Medicine|year=2009|publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins|isbn=978-0-7817-7477-2|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=j6GGBud8DXcC&pg=PT165 165]}}</ref>