From Seed to Seed:
Plant Science for K-8 Educators

Herbal Remedies Throughout History

Quinine. Traditionally one of the most important medicines, quinine is a chemical in the bark of Cinchona, a tree native to the mountains of the Andes. Someone, somewhere, discovered that an extract from the bark of this tree provided relief from the symptoms of malaria and aided in its cure. Malaria is a devastating disease caused by a protozoan (a type of microorganism) transmitted by mosquitoes. This parasite damages the afflicted person's red blood cells, leading to fever, chills, possible liver and brain damage, and, in some cases, death. Malaria is still a serious problem in many parts of the world.

For several hundred years the powdered bark of Cinchona was used to treat malaria; in the early 1800s the active ingredient was discovered to be the alkaloid quinine, and soon factories were extracting quinine from bark.

In the 1930s synthetic forms of quinine became available, but these have not entirely supplanted natural sources of the drug.