Chat

Catha edulis

COMMON NAMES

• Catha
• Chat
• Khat

Chat - tree growing to 50 ft (15 m). Chat has reddish twigs, oval leathery leaves, and small yellow or white flowers.

From the air, the upland hills of Ethiopia's Harar Province look like an immense, carpeted staircase to the sky. Closer inspection reveals the textured carpet that covers the vast steps to be made up of undulating rows of small, leafy trees. In bloom, the trees' little white flowers seem to dust the landscape like a light snowfall. But this is not the reason that the African evergreen has sometimes been called the flower of paradise. It has earned the idyllic name by virtue of the effect its leaves have on people.

The trees are generally called chat (also spelled khat, kat, or qat), and although they may grow 20 to 50 feet high in the wild, they are kept in a shrub like state, no higher than 10 feet, in cultivation so that the upper leaves can be easily reached and harvested.

For hundreds of years, perhaps for much longer, the farmers of the region have taken bunches of the leaves to chew as they worked. They would chew these quids for about 10 minutes, swallowing the juice as it accumulated and finally swallowing the leaves themselves. The effects are much the same as those of the coca leaves chewed by South American Indians: increased alertness, relief from hunger and fatigue, mild euphoria.

The substance that has this effect -a boon to farmers who must labor under difficult conditions from dawn till dark -is a stimulant to the central nervous system known by the jaw-breaking name D-norpseudoephedrine. Although Western scientists warn that insufficient research has been performed to determine the substance's medicinal value, if any, its use is on the increase in Africa.

In Ethiopia, the major exporter of chat, the upper branches of the tree are harvested and wrapped in protective banana leaves, then shipped by air to nearby countries. Time is of the essence; the active ingredient loses much of its potency within three days. While some of the leaves are chewed, most are brewed with water and honey to make Arabia tea, an important beverage among Arab peoples.

PARTS USED

Leaves, twigs.

USES

Mainly used as a social drug, chat is also chewed fresh or taken in an infusion to treat ailments such as malaria. In Africa, chat is taken in old age, stimulating and improving mental function. Chat is used in Germany to counter obesity.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Native to the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, chat prefers grassland and arid conditions. Chat is cultivated in Ethiopia, Somalia, East Africa, and the Arabian peninsula.

CONSTITUENTS

Chat contains alkaloids similar to those in Ephedra species - norpseudoephedrine (up to 1%) and ephedrine, tannins, and a volatile oil. Ephedrine-type alkaloids strongly stimulate the central nervous system, are antiallergenic, and suppress the appetite.

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