From Tree to Tea: The Complete Process of Kratom Production
Introduction to Kratom
In the tropical regions of Southeast Asia, you’ll find a species of evergreen tree that produces a very special herbal leaf: kratom.
For over a century, kratom has been chewed, or brewed into herbal teas to produce a wealth of beneficial effects for your body, mind and well-being. Today, kratom comes in many colors, strains and forms. People all over the world are getting into kratom to help with everything from discomfort relief, focus, energy and relaxation.
Whether you use kratom for a pick-me-up to start your day or to help chill out after work, knowing a thing or two about the process for growing kratom can help you make better-informed decisions about which kratom is right for you.
Traditional Harvesting Methods
The history of kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa, goes back centuries. In countries like Thailand and Malaysia, the plant was used by people working long hours harvesting crops in the fields, as well as for some religious ceremonies.
Traditionally, the kratom leaves were harvested directly from wild trees, some of which could grow up to 80-feet high. Back then, equipment was not so advanced, and people scaled trees with homemade harnesses or simply sheer strength. Primitive stone blades and hand-crafted wicker baskets were also common tools. During this period, most kratom users would immediately chew the fresh leaves or drop the leaves into boiling water and consume it as a tea.
It wasn’t long after kratom began garnering more international attention that the kratom grifter emerged on the scene. Before the so-called kratom gold rush of the early 21st century, when kratom was in little demand, quality was consistently superior. Only in the last decade or so as global demand swelled, many opportunists looking to make quick and easy profits got into kratom farming to cash in on the increasingly popular crop. These grifters with little-to-no experience bought up cheap land and cut down wild trees to convert it into kratom farms. They were notorious as well for using unsustainable farming methods as a way to fast rewards regardless of the long-term damage they caused.
Modern Harvesting Practices
Today, responsible kratom industry leaders farm all of their products on proper kratom plantations. Combining mechanization with more advanced agricultural practices, these plantations help preserve natural habitats and ensure sustainable farming practices. The results are better kratom products and a thriving industry.
There are different colors of kratom which relate to their veins. The difference is based on when the plant is harvested, for example:
- White vein kratom is harvested at an earlier stage
- Green vein kratom is harvested at a slightly more mature age
- Red vein kratom is harvested at the most mature stage of growth
Dry season vs wet (rainy) season
Kratom can be harvested in either the dry or rainy months of the year:
- Dry season: April to October
The advantages to harvesting kratom during the dry, cool season are many. Firstly, it’s a speedier process, as there is much less moisture in the air. Another result of the dryness is that the leaves grow much thicker. Thicker kratom leaves tend to have a higher alkaloid content, and this means they usually result in stronger kratom.
One drawback to kratom leaves harvested during the dry season, however, is that the leaves have a more bitter taste due to lower water content. Another disadvantage is that the yield is less abundant when the growing conditions are dry.
- Rainy season: November to April
On the other hand, harvesting kratom during the rainy, or Monsoon season means a slightly slower maturation period. This may make it easier to harvest the kratom at specific points of maturity that produce varying effects.
For example, the youngest trees produce white leaves, which are good for energy and motivation. As the tree matures, you get green veined leaves that vary in effect, and then eventually, red veined leaves which are popular for stress-relief and relaxation.
Sustainable harvesting
Growing kratom trees is not only about choosing which season is best for harvesting. There are many important factors which can alter the color of kratom leaf veins, like genetics, soil type, nutrient absorption, as well as the level of sunlight the leaves get during the Kratom tree’s life cycle.
Perhaps equally as important as the vein color variety, however, is the matter of sustainability. Sure, it may be easier in the short-run to simply hack down a whole kratom tree to harvest its leaves, but then you’re left with a dead tree that won’t grow another single leaf of kratom ever again, not to mention all the other damage that killing trees ensures.
Today, experienced and responsible kratom farmers practice more sustainable kratom harvesting methods. These farmers know how to identify mature leaves on kratom trees and only harvest what is ready. This way, they leave the rest of the tree intact to continue growing new vegetation.
Overall, this results not only in more sustainable farming practices which are good for the environment, but it also yields higher quality leaves.
Washing and destemming the leaves
Like any plant that’s harvested for consumption, whether in the wild or on a plantation, the leaves need to be washed and cleaned.
Additionally, removing the stems (destemming) is another part of this stage of kratom processing, though not a necessary step.
The stems and veins themselves do not have much alkaloid content, so by removing them, you get a higher alkaloid concentration and a more potent product. Leaving the stem intact after the harvest will add extra weight to your end-product powder, but only at the cost of a lower concentration of alkaloids.
There are two ways to destem, manual and mechanical:
Manual destemming
This method goes back to traditional times. After locals picked and dried kratom leaves, they’d pick off the stems by hand. For most of kratom’s history, this was the main method, and the stems were also often discarded.
Mechanical Destemming
With the advancement in all manners of agricultural technology, kratom producers began employing machines to destem kratom. The process is much faster and requires far less human labor. What’s more, in some cases, the stems are preserved and packaged as a standalone product.
Drying Techniques
Fewer people chew or brew fresh kratom leaves today. Fresh leaves are logistically impractical to ship, as they weigh more and are thus more expensive, as well as the fact that shipping fresh leaves risks getting moisture damage in transit.
Dried leaves in the form of powder or crumbs are more compact and therefore easier to package and ship., Powder also offers more ways to consume it, and has a longer shelf life.
Drying kratom leaves is typically accomplished by spreading the leaves out to allow them to release moisture. There are two major drying methods:
- Outdoor drying – This method leverages the power of fresh air and sunshine. So long as the weather holds out, drying kratom outdoors can be faster than indoor drying. The process can take between 1 and 3 days.
- Indoor drying – This is the more industrial method. It requires a large dark hall, machine fans, dehydrators and other moisture management equipment. It’s more expensive, but you have more control. The process requires slightly more time than the outdoor method.
It is also not uncommon for kratom drying processes to blend indoor and outdoor methods.
Fermentation
These steps are not necessary, but if they occur, they commonly take place before the drying stage.
The process is achieved by sealing the leaves in a dark sack, starving them of outside oxygen so that they begin to extract energy from their own internal chemistry. This is one way to elicit higher potencies of 7-hydroxymitragynine.
Since this step alters the alkaloids such that the effect is a high degree of peace and restfulness, it is usually reserved for the red vein kratom that people normally associate with premium relaxation.
Pasteurization
After the leaves have been dried and crushed into a fine kratom powder, it is a best practice to pasteurize the powder. This is a crucial step for health and safety purposes.
By exposing the leaves to a degree of heat, pasteurization helps eliminate more than 99% microbial contamination.
3rd party lab testing
To guarantee the highest-degree of quality as well as to ensure safe and clean harvesting practices, any kratom distributor worthy of your business should entrust their testing to a legitimate and ISO certified 3rd-party testing laboratory.
Special laboratories equipped for this task are charged with testing and rating factors like alkaloid potency, especially mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. More importantly, they can catch more dangerous elements like heavy metals or pathogen impurities.
A trustworthy kratom distributor would then destroy any kratom yield that a 3rd-party lab tester deemed contaminated, so customers need never worry about the safety and purity of their kratom.
Blending
Despite the different alkaloid profiles and desired effects of certain kratom colors, strains or forms, users can also enjoy kratom blends that have been carefully measured and mixed by experts. The advantage to a kratom blend is that you get a more full-spectrum kratom experience.
For example:
- The Sunrise kratom blend is a mixture of kratom powder and extract, containing 70% white vein and 30% green vein powder. These capsules are designed to help shake off morning grogginess and give you a positive boost to start your day, while also helping maintain clear thinking and a stable mood throughout the day.
- The Sunset kratom blend is made from a 100% red vein mix of the Chocolate Bentuangie and Super Wild Red Borneo strains. Like most red vein kratom, it’s commonly used to help mellow out at the end of the day, although the blend helps maintain some level of mental focus.
Impact on Quality and Potency
Between harvesting your more mature leaves, choosing to leave the stems on or remove them, and drying them quickly outdoors or more slowly indoors, the end product can result in a nice variety of alkaloid content, leading to different quality characters and potencies.
Conclusion: Better-Informed When Buying Kratom
To wrap it up, the main point of this article is to enlighten kratom users with some of the processes that go into preparing this wonderful herbal leaf. One of the key takeaways is that no single kratom tree or single harvesting method is neither the best nor the most universal.
Differences in harvesting maturity and drying techniques, among other process variations, can alter the alkaloid profile of your kratom, resulting in different potencies and effects.
Just remember growing your own kratom might be an interesting exercise, but for consumption, you shouldn’t neglect the importance of buying properly lab-tested kratom from a reliable vendor like Mount Kratom., And if you simply wanted to know more about how it gets from tree to your mailbox, we hope this article has been able to answer those important questions.
Have you ever tried kratom from 10+ years ago? How did it compare to modern kratom?
If you haven’t already, try our premium collection. Since it is wild harvested so it is more similar to the kratom that was available in the past!