Bitter principles quassia

SimarubacecB or Ailanthus Family.—A family of chiefly tropical shrubs or trees containing bitter principles. The leaves are alternate and pinnate. The flowers are dioecious or polygamous and arranged in axillary panicles Picrasma excelsa) or racemes Quassia amara). The plants are distinguished from those of the Rutacea by the absence of secretory cavities. 

Picrasma exceisa (Sw ) Planch, or of Quassia amara L., Simaroubaceae. The first is known in commerce as Jamaica quassia, the second as Surinam quassia. Habit. Picrasma txelsa inhabits Jamaica and the Caribbeen Islands Quassia amara is a native of Brazil and Guiana and is cultivated in Colombia, Panama, and the West Indies. Quassin and neo quassin are the bitter principles of Surinam quassia picras-min, that of Jamaica quassia. These bitter pinctples are obtained in yields of 0.1-0.296 and appear commercially under the name of quassin. 

This reversal of orientation has been used to prepare (4) in a projected total synthesis of quassin (5), the bitter principle of Quassia amara, which contains... 

Synonyms Bitter ash Bitter wood Picrasma excelsa Quassia amara Definition Wood of Picrasma exceisa or Quassia amara, contg. bitter principle quassin Properties YIsh-wh. to bright yel. chips or fibrous coarse grains, si. odor, very bitter taste Uses Natural flavoring agent in foods and pharmaceuticals bitter tonic medicine (anthelmintic) extract as fly poison on flypaper surrogate for hops hair lotion alcohol denaturant... 

Under the name of quassia or quassia wood Quassiae lignum), two indiscriminate species were then sold in Europe Quassia amara (mainly root, wood and stems) and Picrasma excelsa (Sw.) Planch, (formerly Picraena excelsa (Sw.) Lindley) or Jamaican quassia (trunk wood) [17,18, 20]. Quassia wood was initially used as an antiseptic, for meat preservation and as antipyretic. But because of its bitter principles its main recommendation was as a digestive and tonic [17, 21]. Q. amara was rapidly registered in various European pharmacopoeias, alone or with other Simaroubaceae species with the same reputation, such as Picrasma excelsa or Simarouba amara Aubl. [22-25]. The reputation of quassia wood then spread to the United States, where the medicinal use of cups mostly made of Q. amara wood became popular [26]. Meanwhile, a few Simaroubaceae were registered in North American official pharmaceutical documents, such as the King s American Dispensatory [27] or the United States Dispensatory [28]. 

Tresca JP, Alais L, Polonsky J 1971 Bitter principles from Quassia africana (Simaroubaceae). Simalikalactones A,B,C,D and Simalikahemiacetal A. C R Acad Sci Ser C 273 601-604... 

Surinam quassia (Q. amara) contains quassin, quassinol, 18-hydroxyquassin, and neoquas-sin, while Jamaican quassia (P. excelsa) contains isoquassin (picrasmin), neoquasin, and 18-hydroxyquassin as their bitter principles (list and horhammer). These bitter principles are reported to be about 50 times more bitter than quinine (stahl). 

The well-known bitter principle of the wood of Quassia amara L., quassin, has two enone chromophores within its structure shown in Figure 10. Accordingly, its CD exhibits a typical couplet at 266 nm (Ae =-t-10.4) / 242 nm (Ae = -9.5) arising... 

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