• Traditionally used to help support upset stomach, fever, digestive system disorders, weak appetite and much more.

Quassia - deciduous tree growing to 100 ft (30 m). Quassia has smooth gray bark, compound leaves, small yellow flowers, and pea-sized black fruit.

No insect pests ever attack the tall, graceful quassia tree. The whole plant - and especially the whitish wood - is permeated by an extremely bitter resin whose major chemical constituent, a bitter compound called quassin, is an effective natural insecticide.

The ash-like tree itself, native to Jamaica and several other West Indian islands, grows to a height of 100 feet. It has pinnately compound leaves with many pointed leaflets, and it bears attractive clusters of small rose-colored flowers.

Quassia wood is extremely bitter and were formerly much used as a bitter tonic to help stimulate appetite and as a digestive. Traditionally used as disinfectant and insecticide (on fly paper against flies).

Quassia
Quassia amara L.

Family: Simaroubaceae.

Other Names: Surinam quassia; bois amer (French); Quassiaholzbaum (German); quassia (Italian); quassia surinam (Spanish).

Description: A shrub or small tree of about 4 m in height bearing compound leaves with a winged leaf rachis and attractive bright red flowers. Another source of quassia or bitterwood is Jamaica quassia, Picrasma excelsa (Simaroubaceae), a large forest tree with compound, stipulate leaves, yellow flowers and small black fruit.

Origin: South America (Q. amara) ; central America (P. excelsa); Q. amara is commonly cultivated in Indo-Malaysia and worldwide as an ornamental tree.

Parts Used: Wood or wood chips (Quassiae lignum).

Therapeutic Category: Bitter tonic (amarum).

Preparation and Dosage: A tea made from 0.5 g of powdered wood is drunk half an hour before meals. The product is more commonly used as a component of several stomachics and cholagogues.

Active Ingredients: The extremely bitter taste is due to the presence of several seco-triterpenes known as quassinoids. Quassin (bitter value 17,000,000), neoquassin and 18-hydroxyquassin are the main compounds. Also present are indole alkaloids including various beta-carboline (such as N-methoxy-2-vinyl-beta-boline) and several canthinone-type alkaloids canthin-6-one, 4-methoxy-5-hydroxy-canthin-6-one).

Health Effects: Quassinoids and canthinone alkaloids show disinfectant, antiseptic (trypanosomes, insects), immunity-supporting and positive inotropic activities. Beta-Carboline and canthinone alkaloids inhibit cAMP-phosphodiesterase. Bitter compounds stimulate appetite, partly by increasing the secretion of gastric juices. A clinical study showed the insecticidal efficacy in supporting patients with lice.

Notes: The bitter bark of the tropical angostura tree (Galipea officinalis; family Rutaceae) is a traditional tonic; extracts were once included in digestive bitters and cocktails. In this case the bitter substances are alkaloids.

Status: Traditional health; Pharm.

Quassia - deciduous tree growing to 100 ft (30 m). Quassia has smooth gray bark, compound leaves, small yellow flowers, and pea-sized black fruit.

No insect pests ever attack the tall, graceful quassia tree. The whole plant - and especially the whitish wood - is permeated by an extremely bitter resin whose major chemical constituent, a bitter compound called quassin, is an effective natural insecticide. Quassia serves mankind in other ways, too, both medicinally and non-medicinally.

The ash-like tree itself, native to Jamaica and several other West Indian islands, grows to a height of 100 feet. It has pinnately compound leaves with many pointed leaflets, and it bears attractive clusters of small rose-colored flowers. The wood was long used by West Indians to make quassia cups, which they filled with water and allowed to stand undisturbed for a time. Then, when the resin-tinged water was needed as a tonic to settle an upset stomach, to sharpen an appetite, or to combat a fever, they drank it. Stronger mixtures, made by chipping the wood fine and soaking it in water, were used in enemas to reduce bloating and in lotions to get rid of body lice.

The extracted quassin, about 50 times as bitter as quinine, has been used in health preparations for many of the same purposes. It stimulates production of stomach secretions, and those of the liver, kidneys, gallbladder, and intestines, and so it is both a laxative and an aid to a flagging appetite. Another extract of the resin, quassimarin, has been reported by researchers to be of possible value in the fight against leukemia.

The strongly bitter quassia supports and strengthens weak digestive systems. Quassia increases bile flow, the secretion of salivary juices and stomach acid production, and improves the digestive process as a whole. Quassia is commonly used to stimulate a weak appetite, especially in supporting anorexia. The herb's bitterness has led to its being used to help support malaria and other fevers, and in the Caribbean it is given for dysentery. The bark has been used in the form of an enema. A decoction of the bark may be employed as an insect repellent.

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The TerraVita Premium Collection is packed in tamper-proof, food-grade, recyclable containers.

ZooScape is proud to be the exclusive distributor of TerraVita teas, herbs and supplements in the United States, Canada and around the world. Please direct all wholesale and bulk inquiries to 1-844-449-0444.