【Product Name】: Cascara Sagrada Extract   

【Botanical Name】: Rhamnus utilis Decne.

【Part used】: Bark

【Appearance】: Brownish Yellow powder

【Specification】: 4：1  10：1 / Regular Powder / Cascarosides 20%

【Storage Period】: 24 Months

【Package】: 1kg/bag 25kg/drum

【Test Method】: HPLC

【Storage Conditions】: Store in cool and dry places. Keep away from strong light and heat.

Description

Cascara Sagrada is a large shrub or small tree 4.5–10 m tall, with a trunk 20–50 cm in diameter.The outer bark is brownish to silver-grey with light splotching and the inner surface of the bark is smooth and yellowish. Cascara bark has an intensely bitter flavor that will remain in the mouth for hours, overpowering the taste buds.

The leaves are simple, deciduous, alternate, clustered near the ends of twigs. They are oval, 5–15 cm long and 2–5 cm broad with a 0.6–2 cm petiole, shiny and green on top, and a dull, paler green below; and have tiny teeth on the margins, and parallel veins.

The flowers are tiny, 4–5 mm in diameter, with 5 greenish-yellow petals, forming a cup shape. The flowers bloom in umbel-shaped clusters, on the ends of distinctive peduncles that are attached to the leaf axils. The fruit is a drupe 6–10 mm diameter, bright red at first, quickly maturing deep purple or black, and containing a yellow pulp, and 2 or 3 hard, smooth, olive-green, or black seeds.

Chemical Composition

Numerous quinoid phytochemicals are found in the bark of Cascara. The chemicals possibly responsible for the laxative effect are the hydroxyanthracene glycosides, which include cascarosides A, B, C, and D. Cascara contains approximately 8% anthranoids by mass, of which about two-thirds are cascarosides.