- F. Hirahara et al.,Eiyogaku Zasshi, 32 ,1
(1974).
- Y. Kato,Koryo, 113 , 17, 24 (1975).
16. Monograph Caryophylli flos, Bunde-
sanzeiger, no. 223 (November 30, 1985).
COCA
Source: Erythroxylum cocaLamarck var.
coca(syn.E. chilpei E. Machado),E. coca
var.ipadu Plowman;E. novogranatense
var.novogranatenseRusby var.novogra-
natense,E.novogranatensevar.truxillense
(Rusby) Plowman (syn. E. hardinii
E. Machado) (Family Erythroxylaceae).
Common/vernacular names: Bolivian or
Huanuco coca (E. cocavar.coca), Truxillo
coca (E. novogranatense var. truxillense),
Columbian or Java coca (E. novogranatense
var. novogranatense)), Amazonian coca
(E. cocavar.ipadu), cocaine plant, and spadic.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Leafy evergreen shrubs to small trees, with
slender branches;upto about 5 m highat lower
altitudes and 2 m at higher altitudes; native to
the South American Andes; primarily culti-
vated at altitudes between 500 and 2000 m.
Bolivian or Huanuco coca (Erythroxylum
cocavar.coca) is cultivated in moist, tropical
mountain forests of the eastern Andes
(Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and extreme NW
Argentina) and wet inter-Andean valleys.
E. novogranatense var. novogranatense
(Columbian coca) is grown in moist regions
of the Columbian Andes, along the coast of the
Caribbean, and in arid inter-Andean valleys of
Colombia.E. novogranatensevar.truxillense
(Trujillo coca) is grown in river valleys in
northern Peru and in the arid upper Maran ̃o ́n
river valley of Peru. Amazonian coca (E. coca
var.ipadu) is cultivated in the upper Amazon
in regions of Brazil, Columbia, and Peru.^1
Coca has also been grown in Asia (China,
India, Indonesia, Taiwan, etc.) and Australia.
Part used is the leaf. Major producers
are Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru (LIST AND
HO ̈RHAMMER;MORTON3;NANJING).
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
Coca leaves contain alkaloids, including
benzoylecgonine, ecgonine, ecgonine methyl
ester, cocaine (methyl ester of benzoylecgo-
nine), hydroxycocaines, 3^0 ,4^0 ,5^0 -trimethoxy-
cocaine, cis-andtrans-cinnamoylcocaine,
30 ,4^0 ,5^0 -trimethoxy-cis- cinnamoylcocaine,
30 ,4^0 ,5^0 -trimethoxy-trans-cinnamoylcocaine,
a- and b-truxilline, tropine, tropacocaine,
30 ,4^0 ,5^0 -trimethoxy tropacocaine, valerine,
hygrine, hygroline, and cuscohygrine.2,3The
concentrations of these alkaloids and their
relative proportions vary widely, depending
on the sources of the leaves, their age when
harvested, storage age, among other factors
(LIST AND HO ̈RHAMMER;MARTINDALE).4–7Nico-
tine was found in coca growing in Peru,^8
whereas it was not found in leaves of Bolivian
coca.^9 Mean amounts of cocaine in the dried
leaves vary from 0.25% in Amazonian coca,
0.77% in Columbian coca, 0.72% in Trujillo
coca, and 0.63% in Bolivian coca.^10 Leaves of
the latter variety also contain pseudococaine.^11
Other constituents present in the leaves of
E. cocavar.cocainclude 0.02–0.13% of a
volatile oil composed mainly of methyl salic-
ylate, two dihydrobenzaldehydes (tentatively
identified),cis-3-hexen-1-ol,trans-2-hexenal,
1-hexanol, and n-methylpyrrole;^12 a- and
b-truxillic acids; rutin and isoquercitrin (LIST
AND HO ̈RHAMMER); about 19% protein and 44%
carbohydrates; high contents of calcium, iron,
vitamin A, riboflavin, and phosphorus;^13 ami-
no acids (e.g., arginine and phenylalanine).^14
Flavonoid constituents of the leaves appear to
show considerable interspecies variation and
212 Coca
