[Analysis of constituents in Jamaica quassia extract, a natural bittering agent]

Jamaica quassia extract, a natural bittering agent, is described as "a substance extracted from bark of Jamaica quassia (Quassia excelsa Sw.)" in the List of Existing Food Additives in Japan. The constituents in Jamaica quassia extract product were investigated as a part of an ongoing study to evaluate its quality and safety as a food additive. The main constituents of the extract were identified as quassin and two isomers of neoquassin by using LC/MS. The main constituent, quassin, was isolated and the structure was determined by spectral means. The quantification of their main constituents was performed by HPLC using quassin as a standard, and the concentrations of quassin and total of neoquassin isomers were 21.4% and 55.5%. In addition, it was confirmed that Jamaica quassia extract was different from quassia extract, which is extracted from bark of Picrasma quassioides Benn. belonging to the same family as Q. excelsa, by comparing their HPLC profiles.