The kola nut (Yoruba: obi, Dagbani: guli, Hausa: goro, Igbo: ọjị, Sängö: gôro, Swahili: mukezu) is the seed of certain species of plant of the genus Cola, placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae (as subfamily Sterculioideae). These cola species are trees native to the tropical rainforests of Africa. Their caffeine-containing seeds are used as flavoring ingredients in various carbonated soft drinks, from which the name cola originates.
About 5 centimetres (2 in) across, the kola nut is a nut of evergreen trees of the genus Cola, primarily of the species Cola acuminata and Cola nitida. Cola acuminata, an evergreen tree about 20 meters in height, has long, ovoid leaves pointed at both the ends with a leathery texture. The trees have cream-white flowers with purplish-brown striations, and star-shaped fruit consisting of usually 5 follicles. Inside each follicle, about a dozen prismatic seeds develop in a white seed-shell. The nut has a reddish or white color flesh on the inside, and has a sweet and rose-like aroma.
Kola nuts contain about 2–4% caffeine and theobromine, as well as tannins, alkaloids, saponins, and flavonoids.
Human use of the kola nut, like the coffee berry and tea leaf, appears to have ancient origins. The spread of the kola nut across North Africa seems to be connected to the spread of Islam across North Africa during the 17th century, as trading across the Mediterranean became established. The kola nut was particularly useful on slave ships to improve the taste of water, as enslaved Africans were often given poor quality water to drink. A French voyager named Chevalier Des Marchais, who traveled to West Africa in the late 1720s, noted that the nut made the, "bitterest, our sourest Things taste Sweet after it." These sweet alterations are attributed to the chemical substances that the nut adds to one's palate or the sheer amount of caffeine.
Kola nuts were used as an ingredient within Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola in 1886 and 1888 respectively. Kola nuts are an important part of the traditional spiritual practice, culture, and religion in West Africa, particularly Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia.
Used in cultural traditions of the Igbo people, the presentation of kola nuts to guests or in a traditional gathering shows good will. It is implemented in Yoruba religion both as an offering to orishas and as an instrument of divination.
A kola nut ceremony is briefly described in Chinua Achebe's 1958 novel Things Fall Apart. The eating of kola nuts is referred to at least ten times in the novel, showing the kola nut's significance in pre-colonial 1890s Igbo culture in Nigeria. One of these sayings on kola nut in Things Fall Apart is "He who brings kola brings life." It is also featured prominently in Chris Abani's 2004 novel GraceLand. The kola nut is also mentioned in The Color Purple by Alice Walker, although it is spelled "cola".
The kola nut is mentioned in Bloc Party's song "Where is Home?" on the album A Weekend in the City. The lyric, setting a post-funeral scene for the murder of a black boy in London, reads, "After the funeral, breaking kola nuts, we sit and reminisce about the past." The kola nut is mentioned in the At the Drive-In song "Enfilade" on the album Relationship of Command. The kola nut is repeatedly mentioned in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Half of a Yellow Sun, which also features the phrase: "He who brings the Kola nut brings life."
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