Noble cultivar · Vanuatu

Palasa

Palasa is a noble cultivar from Espiritu Santo, listed in the Kava Act alongside Palarasul, its better-known relative from the same island. It is grown mainly for local use, so exports are small and batches are limited.

Country: Vanuatu
Registered for: Espiritu Santo
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. Only one chemotype has been published for Palasa, from a community source; treat it as indicative until a batch report is available.

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

Chemotype	Source
246531	Kava Forums chemotype thread

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.