Kawakawa leaf and its uses.

kawakawa is an attractive native plant to Aotearoa, New Zealand.  It has beautiful scented heart shaped leaves.  The special flavours and warming effects of kawakawa make it an excellent ingredient in culinary creations and herbal teas.  

Kawakawa isn't just highly fragrant and tasty, but also contains an abundance of wellness properties. 

Kawakawa (Piper excelsum) is a relative of black pepper (Piper nigrum). The family of plants to which they belong to is Piperaceae.  Black pepper is well known for its traditional medicinal and culinary uses from cultures all around the world.

In rongoā Māori, kawakawa is used frequently.  Kawakawa is used topically to soothe skin issues, and to also relieve toothache and gastrointestinal complaints.

Kawakawa contains pellitorine, this compound is known to create a numbing effect on the body.  Kawakawa also contains anti-inflammatory properties, free amino acids, vitamins an other health related properties. A recent study on this native plant shares some valuable insight into its benefits.

Click here to read a full article from Liggins Institute article regarding kawakawa.

We love using kawakawa in our products, it is one of our main herbs. The first harvest from our organic certified plantation will start in October 2025.  Creating this plantation was challenging and required time and consideration.  Kawakawa relies on shade to grow, we had to figure out how we were going to create the perfect growing environment without going over our budget.  In the end we achieved the goal.  Right now it comes down to waiting on the plants.