Fresh Kratom, just like any other plant, vegetable, or fruit, doesn’t last forever once it’s been pulled from the tree. Generally speaking, you have about 30-90 days to utilize your batch of fresh Kratom before it starts to become questionable.
Once you’ve invested money and time on this product, you want to make sure that you’re getting as much benefit as possible from your Kratom! If improperly stored, you could end up with a batch of low-quality products. In our opinion, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Just take a couple of extra minutes to properly care for your batch of fresh Kratom — you won’t regret it!
There are many tips and tricks to keeping Kratom as fresh and as potent as possible that our team has learned over the years, and we want to share them with you! Read on for our best practices to ensure you make the most of your Kratom supply, whether big or small.
To start, there are three main factors you want to consider when thinking about storing your Kratom:
By consider, we mean you really want to stay away from these things. We’re sure you’re likely curious as to why these things need to be avoided, so we’re going to dive into each storage no-no specifically. We’ll help you to become a Kratom storage expert in no time!
UV light exposure, while beneficial for humans because it provides vitamin D, enhances mood and increases energy (among many other things!), can also be detrimental to us and in this case, can be damaging to Kratom, too.
Sunlight will cause the alkaloids in the plant to break down, and over time this causes your Kratom to become much less potent. Remember from our Kratom breakdown here, those alkaloids are really what make Kratom such a unique and effective supplement. Direct sunlight is without a doubt the worst place for your Kratom to be.
Obviously with UV light comes temperature fluctuations, and that’s something you want to try and avoid when storing Kratom. You want to choose a dark, cool place for storage. It doesn’t have to be a super fancy, designated ‘Kratom Closet’, but just think about a place in your house that doesn’t receive direct sunlight, and doesn’t ever get hot. Here are a few of our suggestions:
If there’s an area of your house that maybe starts out nice and cool, but by midday it’s headed towards sauna temperatures, stay away from storing your Kratom here. You want to avoid any sort of temperature fluctuations.
Humidity is another factor that is in some ways generally beneficial, but when we’re talking Kratom storage, it’s something you’ll want to try and avoid.
Some people choose to store their Kratom in the refrigerator, which isn’t a horrible idea (it’s dark & cool – checks off two of the most important requirements!), but you want to be especially careful with humidity & moisture in the refrigerator. Again, just like your fruits and vegetables, any amount of moisture will significantly affect the structure of your Kratom.
If you’re going to utilize your refrigerator for storage, we recommend using an airtight container to make sure you keep any sort of moisture out, and as an extra measure, line the bottom of your container with a paper towel or napkin. Again, better to be safe than sorry! Any sort of dampness will be sure to destroy your product.
One more consideration for refrigerator storage — Be mindful of what else you’re storing in there! It’s absolutely possible for your fresh Kratom to be affected by its neighbors (think garlic, onions, anything with a traditionally strong odor). It will modify your Kratom significantly.
While the refrigerator is okay, we recommend that you do NOT store your Kratom in the freezer! It could possibly be a solution for short term storage, but in that case we would just recommend going with the refrigerator. If you go the freezer route, you could end up with freezer burned Kratom, and we promise that is not a product that you’ll enjoy.
Our last tip for humidity control — You could very well utilize a traditional cigar humidor! But similar to the refrigerator storage, if you store your Kratom alongside any cigars (or your humidor already has the pungent cigar scent), your Kratom will be affected. If that’s what you’re looking for, awesome! If you’d prefer Kratom in its natural state though, we’d stay away from the cigar humidor.
Last but certainly not least, let’s chat about oxygen. Obviously vital for all of us (plants included), but just like many things in life, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing!
While we’ve recommended airtight containers for your Kratom storage, another great alternative is just your plain old sandwich or freezer bags. If you decide to use these, you have to make sure and squeeze out all of the air (oxygen) from these bags before sealing them.
Many people utilize vacuum sealing as well — another fantastic way to keep your Kratom fresh.
The overall point here is that too much oxygen will cause oxidation to occur. Once this happens, you’re sure to lose potency in your substance. So no matter what storage route you go, just make sure you’ve squeezed out as much oxygen as possible and your Kratom should be fine.
So now you know the top 3 things that can be harmful to your batch of Kratom, but we have just a few more suggestions we’d like to leave you with. At the end of the day, our goal is to make sure you’re getting quality Kratom that will last you as long as possible. These extra pointers will help you to achieve just that.
Above all else, make sure you’re ordering your Kratom from a reliable and reputable source. Lab testing should be completed and available for customer review, and your Kratom source should be packing & shipping their fresh products appropriately. Don’t just look for the cheapest source — quality over quantity!
Whether you’re storing your Kratom long term or short term, the same rules will still apply. If you need a larger container for storage, try freezer size bags, or a larger airtight storage container (Pyrex and Tupperware come in a wide variety of sizes!). If you’re going the bag route, just please make sure to get all of that air out before you seal.
If you’ve batched your Kratom into daily doses, or even if you’ve got a month long supply, you still want to keep it in a cool and dark place. Those two factors are key.
VERY important — Check in on your fresh Kratom regularly! We’d recommend taking a picture of the product when you first place it in storage. Every once in a while you’ll want to make sure it’s form and color have stayed consistent. You can take a picture and compare it to your starting photo. If you see any sort of discolor, strange scent, any type of freezer burn or mold, you’ll definitely want to reevaluate your storage location (and you might have to restock that Kratom supply!).
To recap, our goal is really for you to get the most out of your Kratom! Whether you’ve been using Kratom for years or if this is your first time ordering fresh Kratom, these storage best practices are so important to know. By following these guidelines you can ensure you keep your Kratom fresh for as long as possible, and enjoy all of the benefits that this unique plant provides!
If you have additional storage related questions, or just want to chat with a Kratom expert to learn more, reach out to us! We always welcome and look forward to feedback from the Kratom community. If you’re ready to browse our selection of quality fresh Kratom products, head over here to get started!