This post is a follow-up to another post, where the goal was to gather kratom strain data from vendors and analyze it based on factors like color to see if any correlations could be identified that match lab results for specific kratom strains.

Summary of the Post:

Before I began collecting data, I had a strong suspicion that much of the “kratom strain” labeling was largely driven by marketing and did not have any measurable basis in reality. After gathering and analyzing the data, this theory has only been further reinforced. The correlations between strain color and alkaloid content are extremely weak and the same holds true for regional correlations. There’s little to no pattern when comparing alkaloid content to the region of origin or color of strain.

It seems likely that kratom seeds have been widely traded across Southeast Asia for so long that the genetic profiles of the plants have become relatively standard throughout the entire region. Additionally, vendors in this area are not only known to mislabel kratom based on marketing expectations, but also to mix different batches of kratom together for various reasons—further muddying the data.

The Data

| **Strain** | **Mit** | **Pay** | **Speciog** | **Specioc** |

| Green Batak | 1.99 | 0.409 | 0.29 | 0.268 |

| Super Green | 1.49 | 0.306 | 0.205 | 0.3111 |

| Green JongKong | 1.42 | 0.303 | 0.216 | 0.413 |

| Green Maeng Da | 1.8 | 0.3444 | 0.251 | 0.513 |

| Green Malay | 1.57 | 0.3555 | 0.233 | 0.387 |

| Premium MD | 1.59 | 0.384 | 0.231 | 0.402 |

| Green True Thai | 1.76 | 0.309 | 0.23 | 0.191 |

| Red Bali | 1.56 | 0.323 | 0.229 | 0.345 |

| Red Elephant | 1.4 | 0.261 | 0.194 | 0.371 |

| Red Horn | 1.66 | 0.337 | 0.236 | 0.317 |

| Red Kali | 1.48 | 0.29 | 0.207 | 0.386 |

| Red Maeng Da | 1.61 | 0.325 | 0.229 | 0.555 |

| Red Thai | 1.66 | 0.325 | 0.236 | 0.478 |

| White JongKong | 1.57 | 0.346 | 0.235 | 0.306 |

| White Maeng Da | 1.76 | 0.336 | 0.252 | 0.349 |

| White Saka | 1.38 | 0.303 | 0.195 | 0.279 |

| White Sibau | 1.42 | 0.28 | 0.195 | 0.321 |

| Benty Bali | 1.19 | 0.25 | 0.243 | 0.0212 |

| Red Horned | 1.515 | 0.326 | 0.365 | – |

| Bennie Red MD | 1.56 | 0.302 | 0.347 | – |

| Bennie Red Vietnam | 1.35 | 0.3532 | 0.334 | – |

| Red Borneo | 1.615 | 0.295 | 0.383 | – |

| Beni Gold Bali | 1.03 | 0.195 | 0.192 | 0.0265 |

| Super Red Kali | 1.01 | 0.133 | 0.12 | 0.0271 |

| Bennies Green MD | 1.593 | 0.388 | 0.396 | – |

| Benni JongKong MD | 1.23 | 0.229 | 0.199 | 0.0243 |

| Red Astra | 1.427 | 0.241 | 0.367 | – |

| Red Lida | 1.15 | 0.201 | 0.228 | 0.0193 |

| Red Sumatra | 1.455 | 0.35 | 0.339 | – |

| Super Green MD | 1.49 | 0.237 | 0.201 | 0.0111 |

| Green Astra | 1.506 | 0.255 | 0.385 | – |

| Green Bali | 1.05 | 0.186 | 0.201 | 0.0133 |

| Green Borneo | 1.699 | 0.29 | 0.445 | – |

| Green Godess | 1.43 | 0.227 | 0.173 | – |

| Green Horn | 1.597 | 0.368 | 0.347 | – |

| Green Indo | 1.665 | 0.308 | 0.388 | – |

| Green Karma | 1.548 | 0.381 | 0.365 | – |

| Green Lida | 1.18 | 0.218 | 0.164 | 0.0199 |

| Green Nugroz | 1.54 | 0.242 | 0.191 | 0.01 |

| Green Vietnam | 1.37 | 0.301 | 0.288 | 0.0178 |

| Super Green Elephant | 1.53 | 0.245 | 0.207 | 0.0116 |

| Green Malay | 1.659 | 0.347 | 0.386 | – |

| Green Sumatra | 1.647 | 0.26 | 0.456 | – |

| Super White | 1.619 | 0.304 | 0.401 | – |

| Super White Kali | 1.4 | 0.223 | 0.186 | 0.0111 |

| White Astra | 1.49 | 0.247 | 0.354 | – |

| White Borneo | 1.25 | 0.285 | 0.284 | 0.0153 |

| White Horn | 1.599 | 0.37 | 0.345 | – |

| White Lida | 1.37 | 0.234 | 0.225 | 0.0218 |

| White Malay | 1.59 | 0.325 | 0.241 | – |

| White MD | 1.566 | 0.365 | 0.34 | – |

| Premium Maeng Da | 1.45 | 0.0311 | 0.397 | – |

| White Maeng Da | 1.62 | 0.368 | 0.341 | – |

| Green Maeng Da | 1.44 | 0.346 | 0.318 | – |

| Green Hulu | 1.62 | 0.354 | 0.339 | – |

| White Bali | 1.36 | 0.342 | 0.313 | – |

| Red Hulu | 1.6 | 0.28 | 0.312 | – |

| Super Green | 1.45 | 0.32 | 0.345 | – |

| Royal Bentuangie | 0.627 | 0.15 | 0.31 | – |

| Green Vietnam | 1.44 | 0.378 | 0.317 | – |

| White Borneo | 1.78 | 0.38 | 0.313 | – |

| White Hulu | 1.65 | 0.336 | 0.387 | – |

| White BigBang | 1.62 | 0.326 | 0.346 | – |

| Gold Maeng Da | 1.25 | 0.302 | 0.362 | – |

| Red Borneo | 1.11 | 0.278 | 0.308 | – |

| Yellow Maeng Da | 1.07 | 0.195 | 0.269 | – |

| Green Bali | 1.65 | 0.358 | 0.328 | – |

| Green Malay | 1.44 | 0.368 | 0.317 | – |

| Red Ketapang | 0.931 | 0.157 | 0.373 | – |

| Wild Green | 1.38 | 0.316 | 0.405 | –

Categories

I wanted to break down the data in a few different ways beyond just Red/White/Green. I also attempted to categorize the strains by location, though this is somewhat of an arbitrary judgment I made based on the batch names. If there was too much uncertainty, I leaned toward excluding those strains from the analysis. For example, “Lida” likely refers to somewhere in Borneo, but due to the ambiguity in the name I chose not to include it in the averages. On the other hand, strains labeled as “Sumatra” were categorized similarly to Malay kratom, as the geographical connection seemed more certain.

Red Strains

Green Strains

White Strains

Malay Strains

Borneo Strains (General)

Kapuas Hulu Borneo Strains (Specific)

Northern SE Asia Strains (Thailand and Nearby)

Maeng Da strains:

Conclusion

• While there are some small regional patterns, overall the data supports the idea that “kratom strain” names are likely a marketing tool rather than an indicator of a reliable and consistent chemical profile.
• While there is significant variability from one kratom to another, there is little to no statistical correlation that can be drawn from categorizing based on the name of the strain.

Further investigation

I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that a vendor could develop a sense of which kratom farmers are authentic in their labeling and which are not. If this vendor-specific confidence were incorporated into the data then it might be possible to uncover stronger correlations within kratom strains.

-Next I am planning on doing a similar lab breakdown but for heavy metals and contaminants instead of alkaloids.