Red Cinchona
(Cinchona pubescens – Rubiaceae)

Treatment for Malaria

Cinchona or ‘Quinine Bark’ is one of the rainforest’s most famous plants and most important discoveries. Legends say that the name cinchona came from the Countess of Chinchon, the wife of a viceroy of Peru, who was cured in 1638 of a malarial type of fever by using the bark of the Cinchona tree. An account held that the Quechua Indians had learned its effectiveness from jaguars, who cured themselves of fevers by gnawing on the bark. Supposedly introduced to European medicine in 1640 by the Countess, the plant producing it was not known to botanists until 1737. Quinine bark was used early in its history by the Jesuits and so became known as the ‘Jesuits’ powder’. It was made official in the London Pharmacopoeia in 1677. Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 of malaria after having refused the powder because of its Roman Catholic associations.

In the mid 19th century, seeds were smuggled out of South America by the British and Dutch. These were planted and cultivated in Java, India and Ceylon. The occupation of Java in 1942 resulted in new plantations in Africa. By 1944, a quinine alkaloid was synthesised in the lab and natural quinine was no longer in demand. These days however, malaria has developed some resistance to the standard synthesised anti-malarial drugs but it can still be effectively treated with natural quinine. Natural quinine is a powerful antipyretic – that is, it lowers the body temperature. During a malarial fever the body temperature can reach 107 deg. F and it is this extreme body temperature which is fatal.

Today the small tree is cultivated by Indonesia and India with Zaire as the world’s top supplier. About half of the cinchona harvest is directed to the food industry for the production of quinine water, tonic water and as a bitter additive. The other half is thought to be converted to quinidine, a prescription cardiac drug. To date, scientists have been unsuccessful in synthesising this drug without using natural quinine and it is demand for quinidine that supports the harvesting of cinchona bark today.

The natural bark is still employed in herbal medicine around the world, allegedly a cure for many complaints including cancer.