Dr. Řádek

Quassia in brief

Scientific name: Picrasma excelsa or Quassia amara L.

Family: Simaroubaceae (2, 3).

Popular names: Ash (1), Bitterwood, Bitter Ash (1, 2), Jamaica Quassia, Quassia amara (2), Quassia lignum and Leño de Cuasia (2, 4).

Used parts: dried trunk wood (1, 2) and branches (2).

Botanical characteristics: An evergreen, this tree is usually dioecious and grows to a height of up to 25 m. the leaves are alternate, 15 to 35 cm long, odd pinnate, with 9 to 13 leaflets. The leaflets are 5 to 13 cm long, 20 to 45 cm wide, blunt-acuminate and glossy. The trunk has gray grooved bark. The flowers are in leaf-axillary, richly blossomed cymose panicles. The flowers structures are in fours or fives. There are 5, 0.6 to 0.9 mm long, pubescent sepals, 5 yellow-green ( in male flowers approximately 2 mm long, in androgynous flowers 3 mm long) petals, 10 stamens and 5 carpells surrounded by a disc. The fruit is a 1-seeded, orbicular to oval, blue-black drupe (1).

Habitat: The tree is indigenous to the Caribbean and northern Venezuela (1) and is naturally distributed in several tropical countries (6).

Chemical composition: Triterpenes (picrasan derivates, quassinoids, simaroubolides, nigaki lactone D, neoquassin, isoquassin and 18-hydroxyquassin), indole alkaloids (N-methoxy-2-vinyl-beta-carboline, canthine-6-one, 4-methoxy-5-hydroxycanthine-6-one) (1, 5), steroids (stigmasterol, b-sitosterol and campesterol) (5),

Active compounds: quassin, neoquassin

Indications: Folk medicine uses include dyspepsia (Mexico and Brazil), loss of appetite (1, 2), and stimulation of gastric juice and saliva production. Quassia is also used for fever (Costa Rica and Surinam) (1), malaria (1, 6), dysentery, gonorrhea (Brazil) (1), lice and worm infestations, as an antiseptic wound treatment, for diarrhea (Costa Rica and Brazil) (1, 6), for snake bites (Guyana), for liver disease, edema and menstrual complaints (1). Quassia was formerly given as an enema for the expulsion of threadworms and was applied for pediculosis (4).
Homeopathic uses: poor digestion and liver disease (1).

Dose:
· Daily dosage:
· Drug – single dose, 0.3 to 0.6 g, 3 times daily; Tincture: daily dose; 2 to 4 ml; Lice: apply tincture twice weekly to the scalp

Other information:
· Gastric mucous irritation has been observed with cases of overdosage, followed by vomiting. It is said that prolonged use can lead to weakened vision and total blindness (1).
· Quassia wood is reputed in traditional medicine to have antimicrobial, antianemic, cytotoxic and antimalarial activities (5).
· Quassia amara extract may represent a potential new source of drugs for the treatment of pain well have demonstrated a sedative and antiedematogenic activity (2).
· Bark extract of Q. amara suggest an antifertility potential with a site of action in the testis, the epididymis, or both (6).
References:

1. MEDICAL ECONOMICS COMPANY. PDR for herbal medicines. 2. ed. Montvale: Copyright, 2000.

2. GRIEZE, M. A Modern Herbal: The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs and Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses. London: Tiger Books International, 1998.

3. GLASBY, J. S. Dictionary of Plants Containing Secondary Metabolites. London: Taylor e Francis, 1991.

4. MARTINDALE: The Extra Pharmacopoeia. London: The Pharmaceutical Press, 1989.

5. TOMA, W. et al. Evaluation of the analgesic and antiedematogenic activities of Quassia amara bark extract. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, v. 85, p. 19-23, 2003.

6. PARVEEN, S. et al. A Comprehensive evaluation of the reproductive toxicity of Quassia amara in male rats. Reproductive Toxicology, v. 17, p. 45-50, 2003.