In most areas where it is used, coca should be con- 
sidered a masticatory since it is not wholly consumed by 
the chewer. Typically, the leaves are first moistened in 
the mouth with saliva, then formed into a quid with the 
tongue and pushed into the upper cheek cavity. They 
are then sucked to extract the rich, green Juice which is 
subsequently swallowed. Usually some form of alkali 
is added to facilitate this extraction. When the chew is 
exhausted, it is usually spat out. Thus, the full comple- 
ment of nutrients present in the coca leaf is not consumed 
entirely, and the nutritional amounts reported here may 
be somewhat higher than the amounts actually ingested 
by the coca chewer. To our knowledge, no studies have 
been made on the nutritional value of the swallowed 
extract. 
In the Colombian Amazon, a variation of coca use is 
practiced by several tribes. Coca leaves are pulverized 
to a fine powder along with the ashes of Pourouma or 
Cecropia leaves. The mixture is placed in the mouth on 
the gums and inner cheeks and is eventually swallowed 
(8). In this case, and in instances where a coca chewer 
swallows his quid, the full complement of the leaf nutri- 
ents would be ingested. There is essentially no difference 
here between the use of coca and the direct consumption 
of food, in terms of nutrition. 
The amounts of coca consumed may contribute signifi- 
‘cantly to the diets of Andean coca chewers (5). If the 
average chewer ingests 60 g of Peruvian coca per day 
(5,6), he more than satisfies his requirements for calcium, 
even without the supplemental ash or lime usually added 
to the coca quid (6). No other food in the INC AP Food 
Composition Tables (2) approaches coca for calcium con- 
tent (1,789 mg). Other food items are high in calcium: 
sesame seeds, 1212 mg per 100 @: spinach flour, 488 mg: 
leaves of Laurus nobilis, 803 mg: leaves of Justicia pecto- 
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