ABSTRACT

Mitragyna speciosa, also known as ketum in Malaysia and kratom in Thailand, is an indigenous plant of southern Thailand and northern Peninsular Malaysia. At lower doses, the extract helps manual laborers to enhance their work productivity under hot tropical weather, while at higher doses it produces opioid-like effects. Ketum leaves have long been used in this part of the world as an herbal remedy to treat various medical conditions, such as to reduce fever, for its analgesic, antidiarrheal, antidepressant, and antidiabetic effects, and also to suppress opiate withdrawal symptoms (Jansen and Prast 1988; Grewal 1932a; Burkill 1935; Kumarnsit et al. 2006; Farah Idayu et al. 2011).