Kola nut

Kola nut – pod with half shell removed to reveal prismatic seeds inside their white testa, and fresh seeds (whole without testa on the left and, on the right, split into cotyledons)

The kola nut (Yoruba: obi, Dagbani: guli, Hausa: goro, Igbo: ọjị, Sängö: gôro, Swahili: mukezu) is the seed of certain species of plant of the genus Cola, placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae (as subfamily Sterculioideae). These cola species are trees native to the tropical rainforests of Africa. Their caffeine-containing seeds are used as flavoring ingredients in various carbonated soft drinks, from which the name cola originates.[1]

  1. ^ Veronique Greenwood (23 September 2016). "The little-known nut that gave Coca-Cola its name". BBC News - Future. Retrieved 23 December 2019. These days, the Coca-Cola recipe is a closely guarded secret. But it's said to no longer contain kola nut extract, relying instead on artificial imitations to achieve the flavour