View source for Quillaia

{{Short description|Natural bark extract used in food and medicine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
[[File:Bottles of quillaja extract.jpg|thumb|alt=Two small bottles of quillaja extract.jpg]]
'''Quillaia''' is the milled inner [[Bark (botany)|bark]] or small stems and branches of the [[soapbark]] (''Quillaja saponaria''). Other names include ''Murillo bark extract'', ''Panama bark extract'', ''Quillaia extract'', ''Quillay bark extract'', ''Soapbark extract'', and {{lang|la|Quillajae cortex}}. Quillaia contains high concentrations of [[saponin]]s that can be increased further by processing.  Highly purified saponins from quillaia bark are used as [[Immunologic adjuvant|adjuvants]] to enhance the effectiveness of vaccines. Other compounds in the crude extract include [[tannin]]s and other [[polyphenol]]s, and [[calcium oxalate]].<ref name=efsaj>EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF) et al. [https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5622 Re-evaluation of Quillaia extract (E 999) as a food additive and safety of the proposed extension of use.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306211205/https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5622 |date=6 March 2022 }} EFSA Journal. 6 March 2019.</ref>

Quillaia is used in the manufacture of [[food additive]]s.<ref name=efsaj/> The extract also is used as a [[humectant]] in baked goods, frozen dairy products, and puddings and as a [[foaming agent]] in [[soft drink]]s.<ref name=efsaj/> It is used in agriculture for some "natural" [[Agricultural spray adjuvant|spray adjuvant]] formulations.<ref>Biopesticides Registration Action Document. [https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/registration/decision_PC-097095_11-Sep-09.pdf Saponins of Quillaja Saponaria ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113234803/https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/registration/decision_PC-097095_11-Sep-09.pdf |date=13 January 2024 }}. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 11 September 2009.</ref>

==Use in medicine==
The saponins from ''[[Quillaja saponaria]]'' are used in several approved [[veterinary]] [[vaccine]]s (e.g., [[foot-and-mouth disease]] vaccines). Initially a crude preparation was used, but more recently purified products have been developed.  Two of these (''Quil A'' and ''Matrix-M'') have been shown to be more effective and cause less local [[irritation]].<ref name=Sun2009>{{cite journal |first1=Hong-Xiang |last1=Sun |first2=Yong |last2=Xie |first3=Yi-Ping |last3=Ye |year=2009 |title=Advances in saponin-based adjuvants |journal=[[Vaccine (journal)|Vaccine]] |volume=27 |issue=12 |pages=1787–1796 |doi=10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.01.091 |pmid=19208455 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=KHN>Sarah Jane Tribble and Rachana Pradhan. [https://khn.org/news/article/covid-vaccine-novavax-vaccination-effort-from-zero-to-not-quite-warp-speed/ Novavax’s Effort to Vaccinate the World, From Zero to Not Quite Warp Speed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202084753/https://khn.org/news/article/covid-vaccine-novavax-vaccination-effort-from-zero-to-not-quite-warp-speed/ |date=2 February 2023 }} Kaiser Health News, Kaiser Family Foundation, 19 July 2021.</ref>

''Quil A'' is still a mixture of more than 25 different saponin molecules. One of them, the saponin [[QS21]], has been investigated for as an adjuvant for human vaccines.<ref name=Sun2009/>

[[Novavax]] uses a highly purified quillaja extract as an [[adjuvant]] in its veterinary and human vaccines. The adjuvant, Matrix-M, is made at facilities in Sweden and Denmark.<ref name=KHN/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite web |url=http://www.inchem.org/documents/jecfa/jecmono/v48je03.htm | title=QUILLAIA EXTRACTS (JECFA Food Additives Series 48)}} WHO report

{{E number infobox 990-999}}

[[Category:Food additives]]
[[Category:E-number additives]]

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