Will BoettcherBiology 355Erythroxylum cocaThe coca plantThe coca plant belongs to the Erythroxylacae family. This family includes around 200 species, while only four species produce the alkaloid cocaine in its leaves, the most important of which is Erythroxylum coca. Erythroxylum coca is a four- to six-foot tall shrub that is grown widely in South America, especially in Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia. It flourishes best in warm valleys on the eastern slopes of the Andes, 5,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level, in a climate with high precipitation but no temperature extremes (Carter 2011). The leaves, which serve as an indispensable stimulant to millions of people, are round, five to six cm long, petiolate, have a full edge with thick cuticle and are characterized by two line-shaped folds, on both sides of the midrib , which stand out on the lower page, which arise as a consequence of the unique folding of the leaf buds during growth (Figures 1 and 2). Figure 1: Section It is planted as a cutting; young plants are transplanted after one year and provide the first leaf crop after 18 months and we continue to produce leaf crops four to five times a year for up to forty years (Carter 2011). With such a high yield, coca plants are an important item of commerce, with medical and recreational uses, and represent a crop of one hundred billion dollars annually. HistoryFor over 4,000 years coca has been used as a medicine and stimulant in what is now Colombia, Peru and Bolivia and dates back to the early days of...... middle of paper......ted benzoylecogonine which is then converted to methylbenzoylecgonine or cocaine. What is surprising is that all of this happens inside the coca leaf (Maher 1976). Extraction of cocaine can be legitimate (from a laboratory) or illegal. Both processes are effective in producing cocaine paste. The laboratory and illicit technique for extracting the cocaine are described below (Figures 3 and 4). Both processes start the same way with ground coca leaves and are dissolved/washed in alcohol. (Continued on next page) Figure 3: Process of legitimately extracting cocaine from coca leaves as described by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration (Maher 1976 )(Continued on next page)Figure 4: Process of illicit extraction of cocaine from coca leaves as described by the United States Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration (Maher 1976)