Coca Plant

One of the commonly misunderstood plants commercially produced and harvested is the coca plant. Most commonly associated with being the species which cocaine is derived from, it has the stereotype of being a dangerous plant. However, the coca plant has many medicinal and safe uses, which have been used by herbalists since the plant's discovery.

South America, Africa, Ceylon, Taiwan, Indonesia and Formosa are the regions that the coca plant is most suited for growing. However, it is most commonly stereotyped for its presence in the Andes of South America, where the greatest volume of cocaine is created. The first discovered written source of the species was in 1783, but it was not classified until 1786, where it was given the name Erythroxylum coca. However, it is believed that the coca plant has been established as a domestic species for over 2,000 years. There is evidence within burial grounds of coca to lend credence this theory.

Diligence and effort is needed to care for the coca plant. The life of the coca plant starts as a fruit, which is picked when the drupes are almost ripe. These drupes are placed within a container and left to sit where the skin of the fruit becomes soft. Once this has occurred, the seeds are taken and the seeds are put outdoors to dry out.

Only once this happens, the seeds can be planted. It takes 24 days for the coca plant to germinate. Once the plant has grown 4 leaves, they are protected by a lattice covering for a year.

After the year has completed, the plants are transferred to preparation fields. This transportation can only occur within the rainy season. Three years after this transfer, some leaves may be harvested. Once the coca plant is able to be harvested, they are gathered three or four times a year. A fully established acre of coca plants can yield 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of leaf per year.

While coca plants are annual, a field will be replanted once every twenty years, as the quality of the plant diminishes over time.

As coca plants are so valuable, there are many steps taken to protect the crops from natural predators and disease. There are a few varieties of bugs that eat on the coca plants, as well as fungus that can cripple or kill the stalks, branches and leaves. Weeds can also be fatal to young coca plants, as the weeds take from the soil of the nutrients that the plants need for basic life.

The most common use of coca plants is in the popular soft drink, Coca-Cola.While this soda no longer contains cocaine, it is still created directly from the coca leaf.

Modern medicinal uses of coca include use as a bactericide, as spinal anesthetics and as treatments for diseases such as eczema and shingles.

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