COCA LEAVES IN THE ANDES

Peru, located in South America, borders on a number of countries to include Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and even the Pacific Ocean.  As the third largest country, Peru is best known for the majestic Andes Mountains and ancient Incan ruins.  Covering more than 25% of Peru and 50% of the Amazon Basin are the Andes, which are truly one of the world’s most spectacular sites.

This scenic country is a beautiful place and one that exports about one million bags of coffee every year, 50% of that going to the United States.  For the most part, coffee is grown in the Chanchamayo Valley, about 200 miles to the east of Lima, producing about 40% of the entire coffee crops grown.  In addition, coffee is grown in the north part of the country, and then on the western and eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains.

Peruvian coffee is wet-processed Arabica, which is grown between 2,200 and 5,200 feet above sea level.  Now, another type of plant grown in the Andes is Coca, a plant in the Erthroxylaceae family. Resembling the black thorn bush and growing to about six to eight feet tall, the branches are straight with leaves that have a green tint, thin, oval, and opaque.  Coca plants also product small flowers with tiny clusters on short stalks of yellow white colored petals.  When mature, the flowers will produce red berries.

Made from the Coca plant is tea or mate de coca.  In South America, tea and mate de coca are quite common beverages, along with uses for medicinal and religious purposes.  In fact, the indigenous tribes of the Andes have been using coca leaves for many hundreds of years.  If you were to visit this part of South America and took the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, the guides would actually serve you tea with each meal because it is believed to alleviate symptoms of altitude sickness.  Then when traveling to La Paz in Bolivia, you would be greeted in traditional manner with mate de coca.

Cultivated on the eastern slopes in slower altitudes of the Andes, the leaves have long been used by natives as a stimulant.  However, coca is also associated with religious beliefs, having a powerful symbolic significance.  Then in the 1980s, coca leaves started to be cultivated, which became highly controversial since it was being used to manufacture the drug cocaine, which is illegal in most countries.

The leaves should be dry and uncurled with a deep green on the upper surface and a gray/green color on the bottom surface.  With a strong tea odor, you can chew the leaves of the coca plant, which will cause the mouth to become slightly numb.  Seeds for this plant are grown in December and January, taking great care to shelter them from the sun.  The best place to grow the coca plant is in hot and damp locations, which is why the clearing of rainforests are prime.  Once the stems break or bend, the plan is ready to be harvested, usually in the early part of March, then again the end of June, and finally around October.

The active ingredient of the coca leave is called alkaloid cocaine, which is about 0.2% in fresh leaves.  In addition to cocaine, the leaves contain several other types of alkaloid.  When the leaves of this plant are chewed, hunger pangs are reduced, along with thirst and fatigue.  In fact, because of the numbing effect, many products containing novocaine come from the coca leave.  However, traditionally, the aboriginals of the Andes have been chewing on the coca leave forever.

Usually carried around in woven pouch known as a huallqui or chuspa, the people will keep a day’s supply of fresh leaves as well as ilucta, which is pulverized unslaked lime, or quinoa plant ashes.  When the ilucta is chewed with the coca, the astringent flavor is masked and the alkaloids activated.  It is believed the people of the Andes began chewing coca leaves purely for survival purposes.  Containing many essential nutrients and the mood-altering alkaloid, the people probably depended heavily on coca to deal with the harsh elements of the forest and mountains.

For one thing, coca leaves are rich in vitamins and protein but they also provide a boost of strength and energy.  Since the Andes Mountains are the tallest mountain range in the world, live helped the people live in a region low of oxygen, helping them walk, work, and live.  The tribes using this plant most were the Aymara and Yunga tribes.  They would walk around with mouthfuls of coca leaves, merely as a part of their long culture.

The Andean tribes depended on coca leaves for religious purposes as well, especially in the pre-Inca period and Inca Empire.  Used as an offering to the sun or for producing smoke at important sacrifices, the priests believed that the coca leave had to be chewed prior to each ceremony or the gods would not be propitiated.  Then, miners of Cerro de Pasco used the coca leave to soften the veins of ore by chewing on the leave and then throwing it on them.

Finally, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta area, coca is still consumed by Arhuaco, Wiwa, and Kogi using what is called a Poporo, which shows the mark of manhood, as well as the female’s sexual symbol.  The movement of the stick in the Poporo symbolizes the sex act, meaning for a man, it is good companionship and food for the woman, along with memory and meditation.  Keep in mind that only men in the Andes were and are allowed to use coca.  Once a young boy is ready to marry, the mother will initiate him, teaching him the appropriate way to use coca, which is carefully monitored.