Cinchona
Cinchona is a genus of evergreen trees native to the Andes. Its bark contains quinine and related alkaloids, historically used to treat malaria.
Quinine: A bitter alkaloid found in cinchona bark, used to prevent and treat malaria. The best-known medicinal compound extracted from the genus's bark.
Cinchona alkaloids: Nitrogen-containing compounds in cinchona bark, including quinine, quinidine, cinchonine, and cinchonidine. These compounds account for the bark's pharmacological effects.
Andes: The extensive mountain range along the western edge of South America. Cinchona species are native to Andean forests and foothills.
Dutch East Indies: The former Dutch colonial territories in Southeast Asia, largely corresponding to modern Indonesia. Dutch plantations there became a major source of quinine in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Artemisinin: A sesquiterpene lactone isolated from sweet wormwood and used to treat malaria. It is a modern antimalarial derived from a different plant and chemical family.
Malaria: A mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by Plasmodium parasites. Malaria drove the historical demand for cinchona bark and quinine.
Plasmodium: A genus of parasitic protozoans that cause malaria in humans and other animals. Quinine's antimalarial effect targets stages in the parasite's life cycle.
New Granada: A Spanish colonial territory in northern South America, encompassing parts of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. Early European accounts of cinchona bark came from Spanish South America.
Cinchona plantations in Java: Commercial cinchona plantations established in Java under Dutch colonial rule. Java's plantations shifted much of the world's quinine supply away from South America.
Chloroquine: A synthetic antimalarial drug once widely used to prevent and treat malaria. Its rise and resistance problems contrast with quinine's long history and continuing uses.