Most pouches hide what they are. KNA is built the other way around — a botanical from the Cape, a formulation we document, and a design language we do not apologise for.
Slim format — sits discreetly under the lip
Nicotine free
Tobacco free
Plant based
South African kanna
Batch documented
Designed, not disguised
Origin
MEET KANNA.
Kanna is the common name for Sceletium tortuosum, a succulent plant native to the arid regions of South Africa's Cape. It has a long documented history of traditional use in southern Africa, and it is the botanical at the centre of KNA.
We describe the plant, its origin and how we prepare it — and nothing further. KNA makes no medical or therapeutic claim, and does not state what kanna does to you. Where data is not yet published, we say so plainly.
Formulation
Specially formulated for bioavailability and a fast onset.
01
Standardised extract
We work with a mesembrine-type alkaloid extract rather than raw plant material, so every pouch in a batch carries the same botanical input instead of whatever the harvest gave us.
02
Absorbed through the mouth
A pouch sits under the lip against thin, well-supplied oral tissue. Compounds cross there directly, so they are not first broken down in the stomach and liver the way a swallowed capsule is.
03
Moisture-activated, pH balanced
Saliva releases the extract within seconds, and a pH regulator keeps the pouch in the range where the alkaloids stay in their more readily absorbed form.
This describes how the pouch is made and how oral delivery works. We publish no onset times, absorption percentages or effect claims until our own batch data is measured and reviewed.
The plant
A low, fleshy succulent of the arid Cape — leaves that store water against the dry season.
The flower
Fine, thread-like petals open pale and bright above the leaf rosette.
The material
Aerial plant material is harvested and dried before it ever reaches a formulation.
Formulation
Plant material is prepared into KNA's pouch formulation. Full composition data will be published in KNA Lab.
The pouch
A soft, dry white pouch — sized to sit comfortably under the lip.
This is KNA
Fifteen pouches to a tin, sealed and batch-coded.
Responsible science
WHAT'S INSIDE KNA?
Know what's inside. We publish what is confirmed and label what is not. No effect claims, no invented numbers, no borrowed certificates.
Botanical
Sceletium tortuosum, sourced from South Africa. We document the plant material used in each production run.
Documented
Formulation
Per-pouch composition will be published once confirmed by the manufacturer.
Formulation data coming soon
Testing
Third-party analytical documentation is attached to each batch as it becomes available.
Document pending
Ingredients
Per pouch — as printed on tin
Plant fibre baseFood-grade cellulose carrier
Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum)Dried aerial plant material
WaterPurified
HumectantVegetable glycerine
Natural flavouringVaries by flavour
SweetenerSteviol glycosides
pH regulatorSodium carbonate
Quantities per pouch are not stated until confirmed by the manufacturer. No effect claims are made.
Mechanism of action
HOW KANNA WORKS IN THE BRAIN
Kanna has been studied for decades. Here is what that research actually describes — the targets, the signalling, and the limits of the evidence. None of this is a claim about what a KNA pouch will do for you.
01
The alkaloids
Kanna's activity is attributed to a group of mesembrine-type alkaloids — mesembrine, mesembrenone, mesembrenol and mesembranol. Their ratio varies with plant material and processing, which is why the raw material used in each run is documented.
02
Serotonin reuptake
In laboratory assays mesembrine is a potent inhibitor of the serotonin transporter (SERT), the protein that clears serotonin back out of the synapse. Inhibiting it means released serotonin lingers longer at the receptor — the same target class that conventional SSRIs act on, though studied here only in vitro and at very different exposures.
03
PDE4 and cAMP signalling
Mesembrenone acts on a second target: phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4), the enzyme that breaks down cyclic AMP inside neurons. Less breakdown means cAMP second-messenger signalling persists longer. This dual SERT/PDE4 profile is what distinguishes kanna pharmacologically from a single-target reuptake inhibitor.
04
What brain imaging has shown
A randomised, placebo-controlled fMRI study of a standardised Sceletium tortuosum extract (Terburg et al., Neuropsychopharmacology, 2013) reported reduced amygdala reactivity to fearful faces and weaker amygdala–hypothalamus coupling after a single dose. The amygdala is central to threat appraisal; that circuit is the most direct human evidence available.
05
Route of delivery
An oral pouch sits against the gum, so plant constituents meet the buccal mucosa rather than passing first through the stomach. Comparative absorption data for the pouch format has not been published, and KNA does not estimate it.
Where the evidence stops
Most mechanism work on kanna is laboratory work — isolated enzymes and transporters, not people. Human trials to date are small, short and run on standardised extracts, not on pouches. Because mesembrine-type alkaloids act on serotonin handling, kanna should not be combined with SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs or other serotonergic medication without medical advice. KNA is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Four worlds
PICK YOUR KNA.
Each flavour is its own world — colour, light and motion shift with it. Hover a tin to step inside.
