Quillaja brasiliensis (A. St.-Hil. & Tul.) Mart. is currently one of the only two species of the only genus in the Quillajaceae D. Don (Dicotyledoneae) family. Recently, remarkable developments have been achieved regarding its domestication, propagation, and biochemical study. The first results on the structural study of the complex mixture of saponins produced by different organs of the tree have been published. Analogously to the related species Q. saponaria Molina, its saponins, either alone or in colloidal formulations, have been proved to be very effective as adjuvants in experimental vaccines, being able to elicit an early humoral and cellular response against the co-administered antigens. In consideration of the growing knowledge on Q. brasiliensis, this species constitutes a very promising botanical source for the development of valuable products for the biotechnological industry and research. © 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG