Bumblebee and Rifat kratom

[BirdieBoo]

On the r/kratom forum, somebody mentioned that there actually only being 2 real types of kratom, bumblebee and rifat; when I asked for more info, they referred me to the search bar. I looked it up on google and it seems that many people feel this is true, but others disagree. It’s hard to tell what the truth is.

Anybody care to chime in on this? If you haven’t heard of this either I recommend you do the same as me and look it up and let us know your thoughts on this. I need to do more research before being convinced this is true,

[Contourboar]

Lots of people more qualified than me to respond but I'll chime in. This is indeed correct, and the variation in color/strain comes from the region/drying method of the kratom. Hopefully someone else will give a more detailed answer.

[DoomCat]

As far as my limited knowledge goes: Bumble Bee and Rifat are just two of the main cultivars of Mitragyna Speciosa. (Rifat being named by the french biologist Claude Rifat who worked extensively with kratom) There are probably many variations in the wild due to cross pollination and other factors. The color names refer to either:
A. the vein color of the leaves which are either Red, Green and White. (but you can find many pics of yellow veins and orange veins. Some places even sell "orange maeng da" thats been harvested just from orange vein leaves). All the various leaf vein colors can be found on the same tree. Also it is possible to force the tree to grow certain colors. I can't remember what, but i think i remember reading that say depleteing the soil of phosphorus will force the tree to only make red vein leaves for instance
B. how the various vein colors have been either processed (dried, etc) and/or blended. For instance "Pink Thai". All Thai's are blends as mitragyna speciosa is illegal to harvest and sell in Thailand. The "pink" part is just referring to it being a blend of red and white vein leaves or whichever leaf processed in a way to make it a "red" or a "green". Yellow and Gold refer to the way the leaf has been processed but i can't remember what that process is no matter how many times i read about it. Lots of places will just lump all the leaves together and process them to be a "red" or a "green" or whatnot. Some places will sell "Premium" leaf and that can denote that it has come only from the vein color that it is being sold as and been processed without any veins or stems. Of course some places just call everything super and premium for marketing purposes.

The rest of the name (if its a place) generally either refers to the region of Indonesia where it was grown, or what kind of blend it is. For instance "Vietnam", "Malay", and "Thai" are typically all blends (because its illegal in these countries) or sometimes leaf that has come from trees that may have been grown from cuttings of Thai, Vietnam or wherever trees. A lot of Bali's are blends as well but i can't remember why. "Plantation" refers to what it sounds like, trees intentionally grown for the purpose of harvesting. Other names like "green asia" and "green coffee" or whatever either refer to an Indo vendors signature leaf, or a company's blend.

As far as quality. There are waaaaay to many variables in this department. Soil compositions, time of year when harvested, amount of rain, how it was processed, whether processed indoors or outdoors, age of leaf, etc. Also i remembering reading somewhere that there is potential cross pollination between other mitragyna species like hirsuta and javica which could limit alkaloid amounts in mitragyna speciosa trees.


I'm leaving lots out and forgetting stuff but thats a basic rundown. Perhaps all the people who are vastly more knowledgeable that me can add to or change what i got wrong!!

[Arctic_Martian]

DoomCat has a good handle on this topic, but I'll add a few tidbits. While kratom leaves do have a spectrum of vein colors, these colors are not specific to the tree type, and different vein colors are even found on the same tree, as evidenced by multiple posts from kratom harvesters on Reddit. Maybe the vein color is related to amount of sunlight exposure or age of the leaf, but that's just speculation on my part. Regardless, vein color does not seem to be a reliable predictor of the leaf's effects. What DOES have a major impact on the leaf's effect is what happens after harvesting. The duration of drying and degree of exposure to sunlight determines the degree of oxidation (oxidation is what causes green leaves to turn yellow --> red --> brown, just like we see in the fall). In this process, mitragynine gets oxidized to form more euphoric, relaxing alkaloids (7-hydroxymitragynine, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl). This is why red (more oxidized) leaves tend to have more relaxing properties than white/green (less oxidized) leaves. As we all know, this isn't a hard-and-fast rule. That's due in part to the regional differences in alkaloid content, which is affected by climate, sunlight, soil quality, etc. It's also partly due to the fact that there are not fixed processes to achieve each color of leaf. For example, Red Horn Sulawesi has a red color but maintains the stimulating effects of a green/white. Why is this? It's because it's dried indoors without sun exposure, which minimizes the oxidation of mitragynine. It still turns red because it's dried slowly indoors, which gives time to allow oxidation of certain components of the leaf. However, sunlight appears to be necessary to oxidize mitragynine, so Red Horn Sulawesi remains high in mitragynine but not its oxidation products.

Yellow/Gold kratom varies based on who produces it, but I've heard two prevailing definitions. (Theory #1) Yellow/Gold leaf undergoes the same process as red kratom, but it's removed from sunlight when the leaves are yellow, before they've had the chance to turn red. This is why they tend to lie somewhere between green and red in their effects. This is the definition I prefer, as it means that yellow leaf is its own unique product. (Theory #2) Yellow/Gold is a blend of red + white (sometimes called "pink"), red + green, or green + white. I like purity in my kratom, so I don't like this definition much. It seems more like a tactic to create the false impression that a vendor has a larger selection than they actually do. If I want a blend I'll make it myself.

As a final note, the overwhelming majority of kratom is harvested somewhere on the island of Borneo, with a small amount coming from Sumatra I believe. If the kratom has a name outside of this region (Thai, Malay, Bali, etc.), then it's pretty safe to assume it's either a blend or an arbitrary name given to a variety of kratom harvested in Borneo.

I hope someone finds this helpful! If anyone has anything to correct or add, please do! I'm always interested to learn more.

[BallzDeep9]

when I asked for more info, they referred me to the Search Bar.

Hi BirdieBoo, yes that Search Bar thing! lol - lets hope they can preserve r/Kratom there on reddit - A ton of Information, almost 5 years worth and 40,000 people.. Search can be linked and posted right here. Nothing wrong with that I hope. For example Bumblebee and Rifat - Lots of good info!

Another great series of threads from around 1 year ago. Search ="Curious Colors" brings up the Badger topics on where kratom comes from. The Curious Case Of Kratom Colors - should be required reading, for anyone who wants to learn about kratom! Enjoy!!

[AngelHippie]

Wow Doomcat and Arctic Martian, thank you! i will be re-reading this a couple of times--it's fascinating and I have much to learn. I appreciate you both sharing your knowledge with the board.