345. Cola, N.F.—Cola (Kola).

Botanical name: 

Fig. 176. Cola (Kola nut). 345. COLA N.F.—COLA (KOLA). The dried kernel of the seed of Cola acuminata R. Brown (Fam. Sterculiaceae), yielding by assay 1 per cent. of total alkaloids. Occurring in irregular somewhat plano-convex Pieces; cotyledons from 15 to 30 mm. long and 5 to 10 mm. thick; dark brown or reddish-brown; fracture short, tough; odor faintly aromatic, taste astringent and somewhat aromatic, The drug contains alkaloids consisting mostly of caffeine and theobromine, about 40 per cent. of starch, a little volatile oil, fat, and tannin. The kolanin of Knebel is simply a kolatannate of caffeine. Kolatannic acid differs from caffeotannic acid in being free from sugar. Tonic, stimulant, and nervine; used as a beverage by the natives of Africa as is coca by the natives of South America. Dose: 10 to 30 gr. (0.6 to 2 Gm.).

"Bissey nuts" are the seed of the Cola naturalized and cultivated in the West Indies. It should be said with regard to the many preparations of Cola that they seem to lack a certain degree of permanence: the fluidextract of the Cola, for example, is an unsatisfactory preparation, because of the immense precipitation which goes on for a long time after the preparation is made.


A Manual of Organic Materia Medica and Pharmacognosy, 1917, was written by Lucius E. Sayre, B.S. Ph. M.