Editing Kava (section)

=== Cultivars ===
[[File:John LaFarge - Young Girls Preparing Kava Outside of the Hut Whose Posts Are Decorated wih Flowers.jpg|thumb|Painting showing women preparing kava by [[John La Farge]] ({{Circa|1891}}).]]
Kava consists of sterile cultivars cloned from its wild ancestor, ''Piper wichmanii''.<ref name=":1"/> Today it comprises hundreds of different cultivars grown across the Pacific. Each cultivar has not only different requirements for successful cultivation, but also displays unique characteristics both in terms of its appearance and its psychoactive properties.<ref name=":1"/>

==== Noble and non-noble kava ====
Scholars make a distinction between the so-called noble and non-noble kava. The latter category comprises the so-called tudei (or "two-day") kavas, medicinal kavas, and wild kava (''Piper wichmanii'', the ancestor of domesticated ''Piper methysticum'').<ref name=":1"/><ref name="Teschke 2503–2516">{{Cite journal|last1=Teschke|first1=Rolf|last2=Lebot|first2=Vincent|date=2011-10-01|title=Proposal for a Kava Quality Standardization Code|journal=Food and Chemical Toxicology|volume=49|issue=10|pages=2503–2516|doi=10.1016/j.fct.2011.06.075|pmid=21756963}}</ref> Traditionally, only noble kavas have been used for regular consumption, due to their more favourable composition of kavalactones and other compounds that produce more pleasant effects and have lower potential for causing negative side effects, such as nausea, or "kava hangover".<ref name=":1"/><ref name="Kuchta 1647–1653"/>

The perceived benefits of noble cultivars explain why only these cultivars were spread around the Pacific by Polynesian and Melanesian migrants, with presence of non-noble cultivars limited to the islands of Vanuatu, from which they originated.<ref name=":1" /> More recently, it has been suggested that the widespread use of tudei cultivars in the manufacturing of several kava products might have been the key factor contributing to the rare reports of adverse reactions to kava observed among the consumers of kava-based products in Europe.<ref name="Kuchta 1647–1653"/>

Tudei varieties have traditionally not been grown in Hawaii and Fiji, but in recent years there have been reports of farmers attempting to grow "isa" or "palisi" non-noble cultivars in Hawaii, and of imports of dried tudei kava into Fiji for further re-exporting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=262207|title=Drink the right mix - Fiji Times Online|website=www.fijitimes.com|access-date=2016-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630143526/http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=262207|archive-date=30 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The tudei cultivars may be easier and cheaper to grow: while it takes up to 5 years for noble kava to mature, non-noble varieties can often be harvested just one year after being planted.

The concerns about the adverse effects of non-noble varieties, produced by their undesirable composition of kavalactones and high concentrations of potentially harmful compounds ([[flavokavain]]s, which are not present in any significant concentration in the noble varieties), have led to legislation prohibiting exports from countries such as Vanuatu.<ref name="Kuchta 1647–1653"/> Likewise, efforts have been made to educate non-traditional customers about the difference between noble and non-noble varieties and that non-noble varieties do not offer the same results as noble cultivars.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/289424/vanuatu-hopes-for-kava-export-growth|title=Vanuatu hopes for kava export growth|date=2015-11-11|website=Radio New Zealand |access-date=2016-05-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201778477/vanuatu-kava-cleared-for-european-market|title=Vanuatu kava cleared for European market|date=2015-11-12|website=Radio New Zealand |access-date=2016-05-29}}</ref> In recent years, government regulatory bodies and non-profit NGOs have been set up with the declared aim of monitoring kava quality; producing regular reports; certifying vendors selling proper, noble kava; and warning customers against products that may contain tudei varieties.<ref name="teschke2011">{{Cite journal|last1=Teschke|first1=Rolf|last2=Sarris|first2=Jerome|last3=Lebot|first3=Vincent|date=2011-01-15|title=Kava hepatotoxicity solution: A six-point plan for new kava standardization|journal=Phytomedicine|volume=18|issue=2–3|pages=96–103|doi=10.1016/j.phymed.2010.10.002|pmid=21112196|url=http://agritrop.cirad.fr/568311/}}</ref>

==== Growing regions ====
In Vanuatu, exportation of kava is strictly regulated. Only cultivars classified as noble are allowed to be exported. Only the most desirable cultivars for everyday drinking are classified as noble to maintain quality control. In addition, their laws mandate that exported kava must be at least five years old and farmed organically. Their most common noble cultivars are "Borogu" or "Borongoru" from [[Pentecost Island]], "Melomelo" from [[Aoba Island]] (called ''Sese'' in the north [[Pentecost Island]]), and "Palarasul" kava from [[Espiritu Santo]]. In Vanuatu, Tudei ("two-day") kava is reserved for special ceremonial occasions and exporting it is not allowed. "Palisi" is a common Tudei variety.

In Hawaii, there are many other cultivars of kava ({{langx|haw|ʻawa}}). Some of the most common cultivars are ''Mahakea'', ''Moʻi'', ''Hiwa'', and ''Nene''. The ''[[Aliʻi]]'' (kings) of [[Ancient Hawaii|precolonial Hawaii]] coveted the ''Moʻi'' variety, which had a strong cerebral effect due to a predominant amount of the kavalactone [[kavain]]. This sacred variety was so important to them that no one but royalty could ever experience it, "lest they suffer an untimely death". The reverence for Hiwa in old Hawaiʻi is evident in this portion of a chant recorded by [[Nathaniel Bright Emerson]] and quoted by E. S. Craighill and Elizabeth Green Handy: "This refers to the cup of sacramental ʻawa brewed from the strong, black ʻawa root (ʻawa hiwa), which was drunk sacramentally by the kumu hula":

{{Blockquote|<poem>
The day of revealing shall see what it sees: 
A seeing of facts, a sifting of rumors, 
An insight won by the black sacred 'awa, 
A vision like that of a god!<ref name=JohnstonRogers/></poem>}}

Winter describes a [[hula]] prayer for inspiration that contains the line, ''He ʻike pū ʻawa hiwa.'' Pukui and Elbert translated this as "a knowledge from kava offerings". Winter explains that ʻawa, especially of the Hiwa variety, was offered to hula deities in return for knowledge and inspiration.<ref name=JohnstonRogers>{{Cite book |url=http://www.awadevelopment.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/awabook-web-part-1-of-2.pdf |title=Hawaiian ʻawa: views of an ethnobotanical treasure |last1=Johnston |first1=Ed |last2=Rogers |first2=Helen |last3=Association for Hawaiian ʻAwa|date=2006-01-01 |publisher=Association for Hawaiian ʻAwa |location=Hilo, Hawaii|page=34|language=en|oclc = 77501873}}</ref>

More recently, specialized kava varieties have been introduced to [[South Florida]] which have been acclimated and adapted to grow well in South Florida's unique soil and climate and have significant resistance to pest and disease pressures. As of 2024, cultivation of these varieties is limited to a small number of commercial farms and backyard growers.

==== Relationship with kawakawa ====
[[File:Piper excelsum excelsum G.Forst. (AM AK347570-2).jpg|thumb|left|Kawakawa (''Piper excelsum'') plant may have been named by early [[Polynesian culture|Polynesian voyagers]] to New Zealand due to its similarities to kava.]]

The Kawakawa (''Piper excelsum'') plant, known also as "Māori kava", may be confused with kava. While the two plants look similar and have similar names, they are different, but related, species. Kawakawa is a small tree endemic to New Zealand, having importance to traditional medicine and [[Māori culture]]. As noted by the Kava Society of New Zealand, "in all likelihood, the kava plant was known to the first settlers of Aotearoa [New Zealand]. It is also possible that (just like the Polynesian migrants that settled in Hawaii) the Maori explorers brought some kava with them. Unfortunately, most of New Zealand is simply too cold for growing kava and hence the Maori settlers lost their connection to the sacred plant."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kavasociety.nz/blog/2018/2/5/kava-vs-kawakawa-and-the-maori-memories-of-kava|title=Kava vs Kawakawa {{!}} Kava use in New Zealand {{!}} Maori Memories of Kava|website=kavasociety.nz|access-date=2016-07-02}}</ref> Further, "in New Zealand, where the climate is too cold for kava, the Maori gave the name kawa-kawa to another ''Piperaceae M. excelsum'', in memory of the kava plants they undoubtedly brought with them and unsuccessfully attempted to cultivate. The Maori word kawa also means "ceremonial protocol", recalling the stylized consumption of the drug typical of Polynesian societies".<ref name=":1" /> Kawakawa is commonly used in Maori traditional medicine for the treatment of skin infections, wounds, and cuts, and (when prepared as a tea) for stomach upsets and other minor illnesses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://maoriplantuse.landcareresearch.co.nz/WebForms/PeoplePlantsDetails.aspx?firstcome=firstcome&PKey=DF6C4669-4A57-4473-8B3F-CE49593273A2|title=Māori Plant Use Database Plant Use Details of Macropiper excelsum|website=maoriplantuse.landcareresearch.co.nz|access-date=2016-07-02|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811031207/http://maoriplantuse.landcareresearch.co.nz/WebForms/PeoplePlantsDetails.aspx?firstcome=firstcome&PKey=DF6C4669-4A57-4473-8B3F-CE49593273A2|archive-date=11 August 2016}}</ref>