Cinchona and Quinine: A Remarkable Anniversary

Abstract

The use of the bark of the 'fever tree', cinchona, to cure intermittent fevers was first described in print by an Augustian monk in 1638, just over 350 years ago. The discovery and the first records are here chronicled. As such fevers were widespread, demand for the bark increased greatly, and attempts were made to establish cinchona tree plantations in tropical zones, most of them unsuccessfully. Only Dutch commercial production in what is now Indonesia was profitable. Chemical synthesis of antimalarial drugs reduced natural production of quinine for a time, but as drug resistance among the parasites that cause the malaria has increased, culvitation of the natural source has again become important.