quassia tree
organism / organism-quassia
クワッシア（ニガキ属） / Quassia amara L.
Quassia tree is a tropical tree whose intensely bitter wood is used in bitters and flavorings.
On this page (7 sections)
Reading the bitterness
「クアッシア」 (Quassia) and 「クアシン」 (quassin) are not the same material name. A European Commission opinion sets out that a commercial extract obtained from the dried stem wood of Quassia amara, even when called "quassin", is treated as a mixture containing several bitter constituents. A Brazilian beer test did not use the isolated constituent; instead, the bark of this plant was added at 0.1-0.5 g/L at the start of wort boiling and boiled for 60 minutes.
For the resulting beer, 100 untrained evaluators rated the deviation of bitterness from ideal on a 9-point scale. On the scale, 1 was extremely weaker than ideal, 5 was ideal, and 9 was extremely stronger than ideal. The 0.4 g/L and 0.5 g/L bark batches scored significantly higher than the standard-hop batch and the commercial-product batch, and the 0.1-0.3 g/L batches showed no significant difference from either. This is not a score of absolute bitterness intensity or of preference.
Sources for this overview
Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food on quassin
Checked for this overview: Used for the dried stem wood of Q. amara, the "quassin" name of the commercial extract, and the distinction that it is a mixture containing several bitter constituents.
Application of Pau-tenente (Quassia amara L.) as Hop Replacement in Brazilian Low-bitter Beer
Checked for this overview: Used for Q. amara bark, 0.1-0.5 g/L at the start of boiling, 60 minutes of boiling, and the limitation that it is not an isolated substance. / Used for the 100 evaluators, the 9-point ideal-bitterness scale, the letter-grouping difference between 0.4/0.5 g/L and 0.1-0.3 g/L, and the limitation that this is not an intensity or preference scale.
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Sensory (2)
Scope: The organization of material and terminology in a 2002 opinion by the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food
Note: Isolated quassin and the plant extract are not treated as identical. This is not a sensory test showing bitterness intensity or threshold.
Show data
organism-quassia —has_sensory_attribute→ "A commercial extract obtained from the dried stem wood of Quassia amara may be called "quassin", but it is treated as a mixture containing bitter constituents such as quassin, neoquassin, and 18-hydroxyquassin"Scope: 100 untrained evaluators, a 9-point scale where 1 = extremely weaker than ideal, 5 = ideal, and 9 = extremely stronger than ideal, Tukey's test p<0.05
Note: This is a scale asking about direction from an ideal value, not a scale of absolute bitterness intensity or preference.
Show data
organism-quassia —has_perceived_bitterness_affected_by→ "The ideal-bitterness scores for the 0.4 g/L and 0.5 g/L bark batches were significantly higher than the standard-hop batch and the commercial-product batch, and the 0.1-0.3 g/L batches showed no significant difference from either"How processing and cooking change it (1)
Scope: A Brazilian American lager test. A standard-hop beer and a commercial beer were also compared
Note: The bark was a locally purchased item. This is not a test of isolated quassin or a pure wood constituent.
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organism-quassia —is_prepared_with→ "5 types of beer were prepared by adding the bark of Quassia amara at 0.1-0.5 g/L at the start of wort boiling and boiling for 60 minutes"Safety and regulation (1)
Scope: An EU raw-material condition under Regulation (EC) 1334/2008, Annex IV, Part B
Show data
organism-quassia —is_restricted_as_flavouring_source_to→ "Beverages and bakery products (flavourings produced from Quassia amara)"