Quassia

June 4th, 2008

Botanical Name: Picraena excelsa (LINDL.) (also known as Quassia excelsa)

Family: N.O. Simarubeae(quassia/tree of life)

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Sapindales
Family: Simaroubaceae
Other common names: Picrasma, Jamaica Quassia, Bitter Ash, Bitter Bark, Bitter Wood,Quassia Lignum

Synonyms: Bitter Wood. Jamaica Quassia. Bitter Ash. Quassia Amara (Linn.). Quassia Lignum, B.P.
Part Used: Wood of trunks and branches.
Habitat: Native to tropical America, most notably in the hill forests of Jamaica and Surinam, where it is cultivated as a commercial crop.

Description: Quassia is a tall, graceful, ashlike tree . Quassia is a tender, deciduous perennial that thrives in moist, sandy, humus-rich soil in sun or partial shade. The tree may grow to a height of one hundred feet and requires moderate to high humidity in a minimum of sixty degrees Fahrenheit to succeed. Quassia produces pinnate, coarse-toothed leaves and small, green-white flowers that bloom in late autumn, followed by black, shiny berries, which ripen in the winter. Insect pests never attack the tree, because it is permeated by an extremely bitter resin, whose major chemical constituent is a bitter compound called quassin - an effective natural insecticide. The wood, which is chipped and dried, is used in herbal medicine as an intensely bitter, non-astringent, odorless herb that is fifty times more bitter than quinine and had been used by the native tribes to remedy malaria, dysentery and venereal disease ( (it is, in fact, the bitterest substance found in nature).

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A tree growing 50 to 100 feet, erect stem over 3 feet in diameter. Bark smooth and greyish. Leaves alternate, unequally pinnate, leaflets opposite, oblong, acuminate, and unequal at the base. Flowers small pale yellowish green, blooming October and November. Fruit three drupes size of a pea (maturing its fruit December and January), black, shining, solitary, globose, with a thin shell. The wood of this tree furnishes the Quassia of commerce. It is imported in large logs varying from a foot or more in diameter and 1 to 8 feet in length, occasionally much bigger, then it is split into quarters, retaining a friable and feebly attached cortex which has the same medicinal qualities as the wood, which is very tough, close grained and white, but changes to yellow on contact with the air. It is odourless and very bitter, the bark is thin and dark brown or thick greyish brown transversed by reticulating lines.

Quassia Amara, or Surinan Quassia, as found in commerce, is in much smaller billets than the Jamaica Quassia, and is used in its place on the Continent, and is easily recognized from the Jamaica one, which it closely resembles, by its medullary rays, which are only one cell wide, and contain no calcium oxalate.
(kwosh’?) , name for several tropical trees and for a bitter extract from their bark. The extract containing complex terpenoid compounds called quassinoids is used medicinally as a bitter tonic and a pinworm remedy; it is also used in insecticides, e.g., in flypaper and against aphids. Surinam quassia comes from the tree Quassia amara of N Brazil and surrounding regions; Jamaica quassia comes from Picrasma excelsa of the West Indies. Some Old World quassia species are similarly used. The trees are related to the ailanthus. Quassia is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Simaroubaceae.

Broader treatments of the genus include the following and other species:

* Quassia africana
* Quassia amara
* Quassia bidwillii
* Quassia indica
* Quassia undulata

Constituents of Jamaica Quassia: Volatile oil, quassin, gummy extractive pectin, woody fibre, tartrate and sulphate of lime, chlorides of calcium, and sodium, various salts such as oxalate and ammoniacal salt, nitrate of potassa and sulphate of soda. Quassia, U.S.P., may be either Jamaica or Surinan Quassia.

Medicinal Action and Uses: Quassia is a powerful, simple bitter and stomachic that is widely used to support a healthy digestive system. It has been used as an effective tonic that soothes gastric upsets, indigestion and acute dyspepsia and is believed to lessen putrefaction in the stomach and prevent the formation of acid substances during the digestive process. It contains extremely bitter chemical substances known as quassinoids, the major one being quassin, which settles nausea. Quassia is also said to stimulate the production of stomach secretions (as well as those of the liver, kidneys, gallbladder and intestines), which also help to improve digestion. It has long been used as a reliable way to stimulate a flagging appetite and may be helpful in treating anorexia. It is particularly valuable in cases of convalescence and general debility after acute disease, as well as act as a tonic to tone up a rundown system.

As a febrifuge, Quassia is said to effectively lower fevers.

Quassia has been used for centuries as an effective vermifuge, an agent that kills and expels worms in the intestines (especially roundworms) and nematodes. Used externally as a lotion, it kills parasites, such as lice and as a hair rinse for dandruff.

Many people claimed that Quassia was a cure for drunkenness because it destroyed one’s appetite for alcohol.

In some studies, another extract of the resin, quassimarin, has been reported by researchers to be of possible value in the fight against leukemia.

Recommended Dosage:
Take two (2) to three (3) capsules, one (1) time each day with water on an empty stomach. Do not exceed the recommended dosage. Quassia should be taken thirty minutes before meals.

Contraindications:
Quassia should not be taken in large amounts (many times the recommended dosage), as it may act as an irritant and produce vomiting.

Capsule Size:
We use only 100% Gluten-free, Vegetable Cellulose “00″ capsules for all of our encapsulated products.

Quassia, found in the shops in the form of chips or raspings, has no smell but an intense bitter taste, which will always distinguish the pure drug from adulterations; the infusion of these by persalt of iron gives a bluish-black colour, but as the blue Quassia chips contain no tannic acid, no result is produced in the infusion. Quassia wood is a pure bitter tonic and stomachic; it is also a vermicide and slight narcotic; it acts on flies and some of the higher animals as a narcotic poison. It is a valuable remedy in convalescence, after acute disease and in debility and atonic dyspepsia; an antispasmodic in fever. Having no tannic acid, it is frequently given with chalybeates and therefore can be preseribed with salts of iron; as an aromatic bitter stomachic it acts in the same way as calumba. In small doses Quassia increases the appetite large doses act as an irritant and cause vomiting; its action probably lessens putrefaction in the stomach, and prevents the formation of acid substances during digestion. A decoction used as an injection will move ascarides; for an enema for this purpose, 3 parts Quassia to 1 part mandrake root are used, and to each ounce of the mixture, 1 fluid drachm of asafoetida or diluted carbolic acid is added; for a child up to three years, 2 fluid ounces are injected into the rectum twice daily. Cups made of the wood and filled with liquid will in a few hours become thoroughly impregnated and this drink makes a powerful tonic. The infusion is made by macerating in cold water for twelve hours 3 drachmsof the rasped Quassia to 1 pint of cold water, 2 OZ. of the infusion alone, or with ginger tea, taken three times a day, proves very useful for feeble emaciated people with impaired digestive organs. The extract can be made by evaporating the decoction to a pilular consistence, and taken in 1 grain doses, three or four times daily, this will be found less obnoxious to the stomach than the infusion or decoction. Quassia with sulphuric acid acts as a cure for drunkenness, by destroying the appetite for alcoholics.

Preparations and Dosages: Fluid extract, 15 to 30 drops. Tincture, B.P. and U.S.P., 1/2 to 1 drachm. Conc. Solut., B.P., 1/2 drachm. Powdered Quassia, 30 grains. The infusion for killing flies should be sweetened with sugar.

Acts on gastric organs as a tonic (Gentian; Hydr). Seems to possess marked action on eyes, producing amblyopia and cataract. Pain in right intercostal muscles above the liver. Pressure and stitches in liver, and sympathetically in spleen.

Stomach.–Atonic dyspepsia, with gas and acidity. Heart-burn and gastralgia. Regurgitation of food. Abdomen feels empty and retracted. Dyspepsia after infectious diseases; especially grip, dysentery. Tongue dry or with brown sticky coating. Cirrhosis of liver with ascites.

Urinary.–Excessive desire-impossible to retain urine; copious micturition day and night. As soon as the child wakes up the bed is drenched.

Extremities.--Inclination to yawn and stretch (Rhus). Sensation of coldness over back. Prostration, with hunger. Cold extremities, with sensation of internal coldness (Helo-derma).

Dose.--First to third potency, or spoonful doses of Aqua Quassiae.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/q/quassi01.html
http://www.herbalextractsplus.com/quassia.cfm
http://www.answers.com/topic/quassia