CASCARA SAGRADA

Chemical Properties

Croton is a small tree or shrub that may reach 5 m in height, originally from the Bahamas and West Indies, as well as from Peru, Paraguay and Haiti. It has alternate leaves, dark green leaves, inconspicuous flower racemes and a brown seed capsule with three hard, black seeds. The part used is the bark of the thin branches. Cascarilla has a bitter, tonic flavor with a spicy odor mixture of clove, cardamom, eucalyptus and nutmeg.

Chemical Properties

Cascara sagrada is the dried bark collected from the small- to medium-sized wild deciduous trees. The plant has loosely pinnate-veined leaves and greenish dioecious flowers in axillary clusters. The commercial bark is flattened or transversely curved, longitudinally ridged with a brownish to red-brown color. It has gray or white lichen patches and occasional moss attachments. The plant grows along the Pacific coast of the United States (Washington, California, Oregon) and also in Idaho, Arizona, Colorado and other states. It is also cultivated in Kenya. The part used is the bark from the branches and trunk. Cascara sagrada has a bitter, tonic flavor.

Chemical Properties

The essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of the bark, with yields of 2%.

Physical properties

Yellow-green or amber liquid. It is soluble in most fixed oils and in mineral oil, but it is practically insoluble in glycerin and propylene glycol.

Uses

cascara sagrada extract (Rhamnus purshiana)(buckthorn; sacred bark) is used to add a skin-soothing factor in lotions and creams. It can also be incorporated into a skin care product to protect the skin from harsh external conditions, as well as to improve the skin’s overall condition. It may also be used as a perfuming component. The extract is prepared from this shrub’s bark, which includes glucosides among its constituents.

Uses

Flavoring agent; as an addition to smoking tobacco for flavoring.

Definition

Extractives and their physically modified derivatives. Croton eluteria, Euphorbiaceae

Essential oil composition

The main constituents of the oil are l-limonene, p-cymene, d-penene, eugenol and cascarillic acid. The bark contains cascarillin and vanillin.

Essential oil composition

Main constituents (an active laxative principle) include at least 6 to 9% anthracene derivatives which exist as normal O-glycosides and C-glycosides. The four primary glycosides or cascarosides A, B, C and D contain both O- and C-glycosidic linkages.

Safety Profile

When heated to decomposition it emits acrid smoke and irritating fumes.

Raw materials

Preparation Products