Guarana, Paullinia cupana, syn.
P. crysan, P. sorbilis) is a climbing plant in the maple family, Sapindaceae, native to
the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil.
Guarana features large leaves and clusters of flowers, and is best known for its fruit,
which is about the size of a coffee bean.
As a dietary supplement, guarana is an effective stimulant: its seeds contain about twice the
concentration of caffeine found in coffee beans.
As with other plants producing caffeine, the high concentration of caffeine is a defensive
toxin that repels herbivores from the berry and its seeds.
The guarana fruit's colour ranges from brown to red and contains black seeds which are
partly covered by white arils.
The colour contrast when the fruit has been split open has been likened to eyeballs; this
has formed the basis of a myth.
History and culture The word guarana comes from the Guaraní word
guara-ná, which has its origins in the Sateré-Maué word for the plant, warana, that in Tupi-Guarani
means "fruit like the eyes of the people" Guarana plays an important role in Tupi and
Guaraní Paraguayan culture.
According to a myth attributed to the Sateré-Maué tribe, guarana's domestication originated
with a deity killing a beloved village child.
To console the villagers, a more benevolent god plucked the left eye from the child and
planted it in the forest, resulting in the wild variety of guarana.
The god then plucked the right eye from the child and planted it in the village, giving
rise to domesticated guarana.
The Guaranís would make an herbal tea by shelling, washing and drying the seeds, followed
by pounding them into a fine powder.
The powder is kneaded into a dough and then shaped into cylinders.
This product is known as guarana bread, which would be grated and then immersed into hot
water along with sugar.
This plant was introduced to European colonizers and to Europe in the 16th century by Oviedo,
Hernández, Cobo and other Spaniard chroniclers.
By 1958, guarana was commercialized.
Composition The table contains a partial listing of some
of the chemicals found in guarana seeds, although other parts of the plant may contain them
as well in varying quantities.
According to the Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank, guaranine is defined as only the
caffeine chemical in guarana, it is identical to the caffeine chemical derived from other
sources, for example coffee, tea, and maté.
Guaranine, theine, and mateine are all synonyms for caffeine when the definitions of those
words include none of the properties and chemicals of their host plants except the chemical caffeine.
Natural sources of caffeine contain widely varying mixtures of xanthine alkaloids other
than caffeine, including the cardiac stimulants theophylline and theobromine and other substances
such as polyphenols, which can form insoluble complexes with caffeine.
The main natural phenols found in guarana are-catechin and-epicatechin.
Uses
Guarana is used in sweetened or carbonated soft drinks and energy shots, an ingredient
of herbal teas or contained in capsules.
Generally, South America obtains most of its caffeine from guarana.
Beverages Brazil, which is the third-largest consumer
of soft drinks in the world, produces several soft drink brands from guarana extract.
The Portuguese word guaraná is widely used in Brazil as a reference to soft drinks containing
guarana extract.
Guarana in energy drinks is known to help athletes recover from strains and aches in
legs, mainly quadriceps and hamstrings.
Cognitive effects As guarana is rich in caffeine, it is of interest
for its potential effects on cognition.
In rats, guarana increased memory retention and physical endurance when compared with
a placebo.
A randomized controlled trial has shown that cognition may be improved with guarana.
Other uses and side effects In the United States, guarana has received
the designation of "generally recognized as safe" by the American Food and Drug Administration.
Preliminary research has shown guarana may affect how quickly the body perceives itself
to be full.
One study showed an average 5.1 kg weight loss in a group taking a mixture of yerba
mate, guarana, and damiana, compared to an average one-pound loss in a placebo group
after 45 days.
Although inconclusive about specific effects due only to guarana, this study differs from
another showing no effect on body weight of a formula containing guarana.
Guarana extract reduced aggregation of rabbit platelets by up to 37 percent below control
values and decreased platelet thromboxane formation from arachidonic acid by 78 percent
below control values.
It is not known if such platelet action has any effect on the risk of heart attack or
ischemic stroke.
References
External links Guarana at USDA database