Kratom extract

A concentrated kratom product made by extracting and concentrating alkaloids from leaf — typically standardised to a target mitragynine or 7-OH percentage that is much higher than leaf powder.

Why it matters

Extracts are manufactured by macerating dried leaf in a solvent (water, alcohol, or acidified water), filtering out plant matter, and concentrating the liquid by evaporation. The resulting material is sold as a powder, paste, resin, capsule, tablet, or liquid shot, with mitragynine content commonly in the 10–45% range — orders of magnitude higher than the 1–2% in leaf.

In practice

The dose-equivalence problem is the central practical issue: one milligram of a 30%-mitragynine extract is roughly equivalent to 30 milligrams of standard powder. Users who carry their leaf-dose intuition over to extract products consistently over-consume. Extract products also tend to skew higher on 7-OH content per unit of mitragynine, shifting the pharmacology meaningfully toward opioid-like effects.

Common confusion

Extracts are often marketed as “kratom” without distinction. From a harm-reduction perspective they are a different product class — closer to a concentrated opioid alkaloid than to a botanical preparation.

This glossary entry is editorial content reviewed against primary sources. It is not medical advice. See our Editorial Policy.