Peruvian Chuchuhuasi Powder | Maytenus laevis

Written references to Chuchuhuasi in Peru reach back into nineteenth century expeditionary records, but one of the most distinctive chapters of its history appears in Iquitos in 1906, where bark macerated in aguardiente de caña was recorded in writing.

Aguardiente de caña is a clear distilled sugarcane spirit, commonly called cañazo in Peru. By then cane spirits were already part of a wider Amazonian world of river trade, settlement and urban growth.

Alcohol was never the only tradition. Comparative ethnobotanical research in Loreto recorded Bora bark preparations based on water and decoction, while healers in Lima described preparations involving cañazo, pisco, wine and other spirits.

Recent ethnographic work also describes specialist makers known as chuchuhuaseros. At small scale, recipes can vary between makers and between batches, with parts of the process sometimes kept private. The result is a tradition shaped not by one universal formula but by place, community and maker.

Sacred Plants Australia receives this material from Peru as bark powder and packs the selected weight in Australia in a resealable Mylar pouch.

Each pouch is sold by declared net weight. The powder can settle naturally during transport and storage, so apparent volume may vary without changing the declared net weight.

This product is supplied for botanical collection, ethnobotanical study and material reference. It is not presented as a food, supplement or therapeutic product.