Kanna

Kanna is fermented Mesembryanthemum tortuosum, a succulent plant native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. The plant has been used by South African pastoralists and hunter-gatherers as a mood-altering substance from prehistoric times. The first known written account of the plant's use was in 1662 by Jan van Riebeeck. The traditionally prepared dried plant was often chewed and the saliva swallowed, but it has also been made into gel caps, teas and tinctures. Its primary psychoactive ingredient is mesembrine

Figure 1. Sceletium tortuosum

Constituents

Mesembrine alkaloids are considered to be the primary active constituents of kanna. The two major active alkaloids mesembrine and mesembrenone are still in the process of being more fully characterized pharmacologically. They are serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which provides a rationale for the plant's traditional use as an antidepressant, but other actions are beginning to appear in the literature.

References