ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Gbanja Kola. Kola possesses the central stimulating principle of caffeine. This species is more valued than C. acuminata as it contains more caffeine. The glucoside kolanin is a heart stimulant. Kola trees flourish where the mean annual temperature is between 20 to 26°C and the annual rainfall is 250 cm or more. Kola trees produce two crops per year; in Jamaica, pods ripen in May and June and again in October-November; in West Africa, the main crop is harvested from October to February. Fresh kola-nuts tend to mold and spoil rather easily. Kola-nuts prepared for shipment to the US are split in half, sun-dried, and shipped in bags. Although most kola-nuts are harvested from wild trees of the West African coast, the US imports most of its kola-nuts from Jamiaca.
