Guarana
species of climbing plant native to the Amazon basin
Guaraná ( from the Portuguese guaraná [ɡʷaɾɐˈna]; Paullinia cupana, syns. P. crysan, P. sorbilis) is a climbing plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guaraná has large leaves and clusters of flowers, and is best known for the seeds from its beans, which are about the size of a coffee bean.
Guaraná is common in soft drinks in Brazil, and is a major source of caffeine for many South Americans. Products containing guaraná can be effective stimulants: the seeds can be up to about 6% caffeine. For comparison, green coffee beans are about 1–3% caffeine. As an additive, it has gained notoriety for being used in energy drinks. As with other plants producing caffeine, the high concentration of caffeine is a defensive toxin that repels insects from the berry and seeds.
The color of the fruit ranges from brown to red and it contains black seeds that are partly covered by white arils. The color contrast when the fruit is split open has been compared with the appearance of eyeballs, and has become the basis of an origin myth among the Sateré-Mawé people.
The public source identifies “Guarana” as species of climbing plant native to the Amazon basin. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Guarana, species and climbing.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Guarana”, the useful work is to connect “species of climbing plant native to the Amazon basin” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q209089. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Guarana” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.