What is kratom? The plant, the powder and the names
Updated · Prozyum
Kratom is the leaf of Mitragyna speciosa, a tropical evergreen tree in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) that grows wild and cultivated across Southeast Asia. Sold in Europe, it is almost always the dried leaf milled into a fine green powder.
The tree
Mitragyna speciosa is native to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. It grows in humid lowland forest and along rivers, and a mature tree can reach well over ten metres. The leaves are large, glossy and dark green, with a clearly visible central vein.
Most of the kratom sold in Europe comes from Indonesia, especially from Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo) and Sumatra, where the tree is grown by smallholders alongside other crops.
From leaf to powder
Leaves are picked by hand, sorted by the colour of their central vein, and dried. Drying is where most of the difference between batches is made: indoors or in the sun, for how long, and how fast. The dry leaf is then crushed, stripped of stems and milled.
Mill fineness is measured in mesh: the higher the number, the finer the powder. Good kratom powder is sieved so it is even in texture, with no fibrous stem left in it. At Prozyum the leaf is milled and sieved in the Netherlands and every batch is tested before it is sealed.
What is in the leaf
Kratom leaf contains a group of alkaloids. The most abundant one is mitragynine; 7-hydroxymitragynine is present in much smaller amounts. These are the compounds a laboratory measures when it reports the alkaloid content of a batch, which is why a certificate of analysis lists them.
Vein colours and strain names
Kratom is sold as green, white, red or yellow vein, and under names such as Maeng Da, Bali, Borneo or Sumatra. All of these are one species. The colour refers to the leaf vein at harvest and to the drying method; the names are mostly regions of origin or trade grades. Our guides to vein colours and strain names explain both in detail.
Is kratom legal?
It depends on the country. Kratom can be bought legally in the Netherlands and in a number of other EU countries, and is controlled in others. Prozyum only ships to countries where it is legal, and the list at checkout is the definitive list. Always check your own local law. Our kratom is sold as a botanical product and is not for human consumption.