Noble cultivar · Vanuatu

Borongoru(Borogoru)

Borongoru (spelled Borogoru in the register) is one of the classic noble cultivars of northern Vanuatu. The Kava Act places it on Maewo; the plants our batches come from grow on the neighbouring island of Pentecost, in the same volcanic soils and wet climate.

Country: Vanuatu
Registered for: Maewo
Our batches grown on: Pentecost
Legal class: noble
Form: Root powder

Published chemotypes

A chemotype is a six-digit code that orders the six major kavalactones from largest to smallest share: 1 desmethoxyyangonin, 2 dihydrokavain, 3 yangonin, 4 kavain, 5 dihydromethysticin, 6 methysticin. Vanuatu's register uses it to distinguish noble from non-noble cultivars. Published codes for the same cultivar can differ by source, island and plant age.

Sold as a fine root powder. Four published chemotypes are listed below; sources disagree on the order of the first two kavalactones, which is common for cultivars grown on several islands.

Listed as a noble cultivar in Vanuatu's Kava Act No. 7 of 2002, Schedule, Table 1.

Chemotype	Source
243516	Nakamal at Home
243516	Kava Society New Zealand
425361	Kava Forums chemotype thread
246531	Kava Library

Full cultivar record on kava.fyi

How it is grown and processed

Kava (Piper methysticum) does not set viable seed; every plant is a cutting of an older one, which is why cultivars stay stable over generations. Plants are grown in shade at first, then in open plantations, and harvested after three to five years when the root mass has developed. The roots are washed, sun- or shade-dried and milled; our powders are milled from the root only, not from stems or leaves.