Shell: Array split in quoted string

split_array_str.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

QUOTED_ARRAY="-Djava=\"one 'and' two\" -Djavax=\"three four\""
while IFS= read -r -d '' item; do echo "$item"; done < <(xargs printf '%s\0' <<< "$QUOTED_ARRAY")

# Output:

# -Djava=one 'and' two
# -Djavax=three four

# obtained from /usr/local/bin/jenkins.sh in the Jenkins sdk17 docker image