Khat seeds and the khat plant, asked and answered

Khat Seeds

Khat is Catha edulis, an evergreen shrub or tree in the family Celastraceae and the only species in its genus. It grows wild in the mountain forests of East Africa, from Eritrea to the Cape, and is cultivated in the highlands of Yemen, Ethiopia and Kenya. The fresh young leaves and shoot tips are chewed as a stimulant. In Kenya the same plant is sold as miraa; in South Africa it is called Bushman's tea.

Sources PROTA4U, van der Vossen 2002; PlantZAfrica (SANBI).

The plant and its alkaloids →

Khat Seeds

Small and winged. The fruit is a narrow, three-sided capsule of 6 to 12 mm that hangs from the twig, turns red to brown and splits into three valves. Inside are usually one to three seeds, each about 3 mm long, dark brown, flat on one side and attached to a papery wing of around 5 mm. A kilogram holds roughly 60,000 to 80,000 of them.

Sources PROTA4U; ICRAF Useful Trees, Uganda.

Khat seeds up close →

Khat Seeds

Quickly when fresh, poorly when old. Fresh seed germinates in 15 to 20 days without any pre-treatment, and the seed loses its viability soon after ripening, which is why agroforestry manuals advise sowing it as soon as it is ripe. Few observations of seedlings have been published, because farmers almost never grow khat from seed.

Sources PROTA4U; ICRAF Agroforestree, Kenya.

How khat seeds germinate →

Khat Seeds

From cuttings, mostly. Growers in Yemen, Ethiopia and Kenya root 30 to 50 cm cuttings from upright shoots, leave the young plants alone for three to four years and then prune them to 2.5 to 5 m so they keep producing soft new shoots. A well-kept plantation can stay productive for 50 to 75 years. Growing khat for its leaves is not allowed in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom or Germany.

Sources PROTA4U.

How the shrub is grown →

Khat Seeds

Two related alkaloids do most of the work. Cathinone is the main active compound and acts much like amphetamine; cathine is roughly ten times weaker. Fresh khat contains 78 to 343 mg of cathinone per 100 g, and the cathinone turns into cathine within a few days of picking, which is why chewers want bundles that are no more than two or three days old.

Sources ACMD 2013, paragraph 68; Kalix 1992.

The plant and its alkaloids →

Khat Seeds

In company, in the afternoon, often for hours. In the old tower houses of Sana'a the top-floor room, the mafraj, is where men gather to chew, talk and smoke a water pipe. Fresh leaves and soft shoot tips are chewed and added bit by bit to a wad kept in one cheek, with plenty of cold water on the side. A session described in UK research lasts four to six hours on one or two bundles.

Sources Archnet, Bayt al-Belayli; PROTA4U; ACMD 2013.

Qat chewing in Yemen and the Horn of Africa →

Khat Seeds

No. Since 5 January 2013 the leaves and twigs of Catha edulis are on List II of the Opium Act. Importing, growing, selling, transporting and having khat in your possession are all prohibited. The seeds are not named on the list, but a plant grown from them produces exactly the leaves and twigs that are.

Sources Staatsblad 2013, 1; Opiumwet, article 3.

Khat and the law →

Khat Seeds

Also controlled. In the UK khat has been a Class C drug since 24 June 2014, defined as the leaves, stems or shoots of the plant, and cultivating it counts as producing it. In Germany cathinone is in Annex I of the narcotics act, which also covers plants and plant parts containing it, and even seeds, when they are meant for use as an intoxicant.

Sources SI 2014/1352; BtMG Anlage I.

Khat and the law →

Khat Seeds

This site is published by the team behind Dutch-Smart, a Dutch smartshop. We write from public sources: botanical references, government decisions and peer-reviewed research, each linked at the answer. We make no health claims, and we do not publish invented experiences.

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