Bitter tonic quassia

Quassia wood is very commonly used as a bitter tonic and anthelmintic. 

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... 

Quassia has bitter tonic properties but in large doses is reported to cause stomach irritation and to produce vomiting (lewis and elvin-lewis). 

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]. 

A tonic containing bitter matters from such substances as aloes, bitter orange peel, cinchona bark, gentian, or quassia. 

Figure 3.5. Left Teko Amerindian of French Guiana identifying a tree thanks to its odor, on an experimentai piot in the forest. Right wood goblet of Quassia amara L. is acclaimed by Surinamese Saramaka, for the extreme bitterness that the wood transfers to its contents, water or rum. These goblets are used as tonics, digestives or even anti-malarial medicine, and are linked to the Afro-surinamese cultures (photo G. Odonne)...

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See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

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