Kanna History: The Khoikhoi, the San and Sceletium
A plant used for centuries before anyone wrote about it, and what the written record, and the modern business around it, can and cannot tell us.
Kanna history is mostly the history of the people who knew the plant first. Sceletium tortuosum grows in the dry southwest of South Africa, and the San and Khoikhoi peoples used it long before the first European wrote its name down. This post covers what the sources actually say, from early colonial records to the word kougoed, and how a modern benefit-sharing agreement came about. It also flags the claims we could not verify, including a popular "3,000 years" figure.
Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum) was used by the San and Khoikhoi peoples of southern Africa for centuries before European records, which begin in the 1600s. They chewed it and prepared it by fermenting, a preparation called kougoed. Colonial farmers later used tinctures. In 2008 the South African San Council signed a benefit-sharing agreement over the plant's traditional knowledge.
Who first used kanna?
The San hunter-gatherers and Khoikhoi herders (also spelled Khoekhoe or Khoi) of southern Africa are the first documented users, and the knowledge was theirs.
A review in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology says San hunter-gatherers and Khoi pastoralists used Sceletium for centuries before European written records, and that this indigenous knowledge has eroded over the past three centuries through conflict, land loss, disease and acculturation [1]. A 2013 study introduction describes "a long history of traditional use as a masticatory and medicine by San and Khoikhoi people and subsequently by European colonial farmers as a psychotropic in tincture form" [2]. In other words, the plant reached the modern world through communities whose own records are mostly oral. Any product on a shelf today sits downstream of that.
Where do the words kanna and kougoed come from?
Kanna, channa and kougoed are all names for the plant or its prepared form, and reviews say they carry the sense of something chewable [4]. Kougoed is the name for the traditionally prepared plant material, and a laboratory study of the process describes the fermented preparation as "locally known as 'kougoed' or 'channa'" [3].
The botanical genus name Sceletium comes from the Latin for skeleton, referring to the prominent veins that remain when the leaves dry [4]. Sceletium tortuosum has also been reclassified into the genus Mesembryanthemum, so papers use both names for the same plant [5].
How was kanna used traditionally?
As far as the reviews describe, mainly as a chewed plant, with fermentation and a few other forms. These are historical descriptions, not instructions, and this page gives no preparation steps.
- Chewing. The plant was chewed, and reviews say residue was sometimes smoked afterward [4].
- Fermentation. Kougoed is linked to a fermented preparation. A controlled lab study later found fermentation changed the plant's alkaloid chemistry, with mesembrine falling from 1.33% to 0.05% and another alkaloid, delta-7-mesembrenone, rising over ten days [3].
- Other forms. Reviews also list tea and snuff, and a 2024 review adds tinctures [4][5]. Roots and stems were stored in sewn-up sheepskins in one 1685 description [5].
As for purposes, the review literature lists quenching thirst and hunger, fighting fatigue, and social and spiritual uses, alongside traditional medicinal uses [1][4]. Those are descriptions of what people did, and we are not saying kanna does any of them. For what modern studies have and have not found, see what the research shows.
What do the earliest written records say?
They begin in the 17th century, after the Dutch settled at the Cape. Written evidence is thin, and secondary reviews disagree in how they describe it.
- 1662. A 2021 review states that the Dutch colonial administrator Jan van Riebeeck traded sheep with local people for "kanna" [4].
- 1685. The same review calls the oldest written evidence of Sceletium a document from 1685 associated with Simon van der Stel [4]. A 2024 review quotes a 1685 passage in which people "chew mostly a certain plant which they call Canna and which they bruise" [5]. One review calls the 1685 item a painting and another a journal, so we do not claim more than "a 1685 record."
- Later. Colonial farmers took up tinctures [2]. By the late 1800s chemists were isolating the alkaloids: Meiring studied them in 1898, and Zwicky reported mesembrine in 1914 [4].
We could not open the original colonial sources, so everything here is as reported in modern reviews. The exact dates are the reviews' claims.
How did kanna become a subject of science?
Slowly, then quickly. After the early chemistry, the 2000s brought lab pharmacology, a standardized extract and the first human trials.
Gericke and Viljoen's 2008 review collected the past and present uses, alkaloid chemistry and pharmacology, and noted that wild populations had declined from overharvesting, poor veld management and possibly disease [1]. A 2011 study found that a standardized extract acted on the serotonin transporter and the enzyme PDE4 in the lab [6], and the first modern human safety trial ran in 2009 and was published in 2013 [7]. Since then there have been a handful of small trials, summarized in our clinical studies table, and a mechanism that is still debated; see how kanna works. For the plant itself, see the kanna plant guide. A short orientation is on what is kanna.
What is the San benefit-sharing agreement?
It is a 2008 agreement between the South African San Council and HG&H Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed the Zembrin extract, covering the San's traditional knowledge about Sceletium.
A peer-reviewed article on the later rooibos agreement describes the Sceletium deal as the San Council's second benefit-sharing agreement, signed in 2008, with Zembrin marketed by HG&H in several countries. It reports that 5 percent of extract sales go to a San trust fund, plus 1 percent for use of a San logo on the product, with proceeds shared equally with two Namaqualand communities who gave the developer a major lead [8]. A trade magazine account, whose independence we cannot confirm, gives a signing date of February 21, 2008, and names the communities as Paulshoek and Nourivier [9]. Reported figures vary by source, so read the percentages as indicative.
A South African government record for HG&H's bioprospecting permit (issued February 2015, expired February 2020) confirms prior informed consent and says the company's recognition of traditional knowledge was formalized in a benefit-sharing agreement with the South African San Council and the Nama community, with payments going to the Bioprospecting Trust Fund [10]. It does not give the agreement's date or value.
Two corrections to common versions of this story. We found no Sceletium agreement dated 2010, and the Khoi leadership's formal partnership with the San Council (a 2012 memorandum and a 2013 memorandum of association) concerned rooibos, honeybush, buchu and hoodia, not Sceletium by name [8]. And the agreement covers HG&H's product: whether other kanna companies share benefits with communities is something we could not verify, and it is a fair question to ask any brand. The agreement is also not an endorsement of any product by the San or Khoikhoi.
Which popular claims can't be verified?
Several are repeated widely online without a source.
- "Used for 3,000 years" or similar. We found no academic source for a specific figure. The reliable statement is "centuries before European records" [1].
- Marketing nicknames and comparisons to recreational drugs. These come from product marketing, not from the historical record, and we do not use them.
- "Proven" traditional benefits. Tradition is not trial evidence, as the thin human research shows.
This page is general information, not medical advice. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Kanna products are not intended to diagnose, prevent or manage any disease or health condition. If you take serotonergic medicines or are pregnant or nursing, talk to a doctor before using kanna; see is kanna safe. kannadrinks.com is published by Psilly Goose, a kanna drink maker.
References
- Gericke N, Viljoen AM. Sceletium: a review update. J Ethnopharmacol 2008;119(3):653-63. PubMed
- Terburg D, et al. Acute effects of Sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin), a dual 5-HT reuptake and PDE4 inhibitor, in the human amygdala and its connection to the hypothalamus. Neuropsychopharmacology 2013;38(13):2708-16. PubMed
- Patnala S, Kanfer I. Investigations of the phytochemical content of Sceletium tortuosum following the preparation of "kougoed" by fermentation of plant material. J Ethnopharmacol 2009. PubMed
- Manganyi MC, et al. A chewable cure "Kanna": biological and pharmaceutical properties of Sceletium tortuosum. Molecules 2021;26(9):2557. PubMed Central
- Reddy P, Stafford GI, Makunga NP. Skeletons in the closet? Using a bibliometric lens to visualise phytochemical and pharmacological activities linked to Sceletium, a mood enhancer. Front Plant Sci 2024;15:1268101. Frontiers
- Harvey AL, Young LC, Viljoen AM, Gericke NP. Pharmacological actions of the South African medicinal and functional food plant Sceletium tortuosum and its principal alkaloids. J Ethnopharmacol 2011;137(3):1124-9. PubMed
- Nell H, Siebert M, Chellan P, Gericke N. A randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial of extract Sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin) in healthy adults. J Altern Complement Med 2013;19(11):898-904. PubMed
- The Rooibos Benefit Sharing Agreement: breaking new ground with respect, honesty, fairness, and care. PubMed Central. PubMed Central
- WholeFoods Magazine staff. Social responsibility toward Khoi-San people of South Africa and the traditional uses of Sceletium tortuosum (trade publication; article centers on a commercial product). wholefoodsmagazine.com
- Access and Benefit-Sharing Clearing-House, Convention on Biological Diversity. South Africa internationally recognized certificate of compliance ABSCH-IRCC-ZA-206780 (HG&H Pharmaceuticals; Sceletium tortuosum). absch.cbd.int
Frequently asked questions
Who first used kanna?
The San and Khoikhoi peoples of southern Africa are the first documented users. Reviews say they used Sceletium for centuries before European written records [1][2]. No reliable source gives a start date, and we do not repeat unsourced claims of a specific number of years.
What does kougoed mean?
Kougoed is the name given to traditionally prepared Sceletium, and reviews link it with a fermented preparation [3][4]. Kanna, channa and kougoed are the plant's common names [4].
When did Europeans first write about kanna?
A 2021 review dates the oldest written evidence to 1685 and associates it with Simon van der Stel, and says the Dutch administrator Jan van Riebeeck traded sheep for kanna in 1662 [4]. A 2024 review quotes a 1685 journal describing people chewing a plant they called Canna [5].
Is there a benefit-sharing agreement for kanna?
Yes. The South African San Council signed a benefit-sharing agreement with HG&H Pharmaceuticals in 2008 covering traditional knowledge of Sceletium, and a government record names the San Council and the Nama community as parties [8][10]. We found no evidence of a 2010 agreement.
Is traditional use proof that kanna works?
No. Traditional use is history, not evidence of effects. Modern studies are small and mostly in healthy volunteers. See the clinical studies table.