Cinchona
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{{Taxobox
| name = ''Cinchona''
| image = Cinchona.pubescens01.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Cinchona pubescens'' - flowers
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Gentianales]]
| familia = [[Rubiaceae]]
| genus = '''''Cinchona'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]] 1753
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
about 25 species; see text
}}
'''''Cinchona''''' is a [[genus]] of about 25 [[species]] in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Rubiaceae]], native to tropical [[South America]]. They are large [[shrub]]s or small [[tree]]s growing to 5-15 [[metre]]s tall with [[evergreen]] foliage.
[[Image:Cinchona.pubescens03.jpg|thumb|left|''Cinchona pubescens'' - fruit]]
The [[leaf|leaves]] are opposite, rounded to lanceolate, 10-40 cm long. The [[flower]]s are white, pink or red, produced in terminal [[panicle]]s. The [[fruit]] is a small [[capsule (fruit)|capsule]] containing numerous [[seed]]s.
The name of the genus is due to [[Carolus Linnaeus|Carolus "Carl" Linnaeus]], who named the tree in 1742 after a [[Countess of Chinchon]], the wife of a viceroy of Peru, who, in 1638, was introduced by natives to the medicinal properties of the bark. Stories of the medicinal properties of this bark, however, are perhaps noted in journals as far back as the 1560s-1570s (see the Ortiz link below).
''Cinchona'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species including [[Engrailed|The Engrailed]], [[The Commander (butterfly)|The Commander]], and members of the genus ''[[Endoclita]]'' including ''[[Endoclita damor|E. damor]]'', ''[[Endoclita purpurescens|E. purpurescens]]'' and ''[[Endoclita sericeus|E. sericeus]]''.
<br clear = "left" />
==Species==
{|
|- valign=top
|
* ''Cinchona antioquiae'' L.Andersson (1998).
* ''Cinchona asperifolia'' Wedd. (1848).
* ''Cinchona barbacoensis'' H.Karst. (1860).
* ''Cinchona × boliviana'' Wedd. (1848).
* ''Cinchona calisaya'' Wedd. (1848).
* ''Cinchona capuli'' L.Andersson (1994).
* ''Cinchona fruticosa'' L.Andersson (1998).
* ''Cinchona glandulifera'' Ruiz & Pav. (1802).
* ''Cinchona hirsuta'' Ruiz & Pav. (1799).
* ''Cinchona krauseana'' L.Andersson (1998).
* ''Cinchona lancifolia'' Mutis (1793).
* ''Cinchona lucumifolia'' Pav. ex Lindl. (1838).
* ''Cinchona macrocalyx'' Pav. ex DC. (1829).
* ''Cinchona micrantha'' Ruiz & Pav. (1799).
* ''Cinchona mutisii'' Lamb. (1821).
* ''Cinchona nitida'' Ruiz & Pav. (1799).
* ''[[Cinchona officinalis]]'' L. (1753): Quinine Bark
* ''Cinchona parabolica'' Pav. in J.E.Howard (1859).
* ''Cinchona pitayensis'' (Wedd.) Wedd. (1849).
* ''[[Cinchona pubescens]]'' Vahl (1790) : Quinine Tree
* ''Cinchona pyrifolia'' L.Andersson (1998).
* ''Cinchona rugosa'' Pav. in J.E.Howard (1859).
* ''Cinchona scrobiculata'' Humb. & Bonpl. (1808).
* ''Cinchona villosa'' Pav. ex Lindl. (1838).
* ''Cinchona succirubra''
* ''Cinchona robusta''
* ''Cinchona hybrida''
|}
==Cinchona alkaloids==
[[Image:Cinchona alkaloids.png|right|200px|Cinchona alkaloids]]The bark of trees in this genus is the source of a variety of [[alkaloid]]s, the most familiar of which is [[quinine]], an [[antipyretic|anti-fever]] agent especially useful in treating [[malaria]].
'''Cinchona alkaloids''' include:
* [[cinchonine]] and [[cinchonidine]] ([[stereoisomer]]s with R = vinyl, R' = [[hydrogen]])
* [[quinine]] and [[quinidine]] ([[stereoisomer]]s with R = [[vinyl]], R' = [[methoxy]])
* [[dihydroquinidine]] & [[dihydroquinine]] (stereoisomers with R = [[ethyl]], R' = methoxy)
They find use in [[organic chemistry]] as [[organocatalyst]]s in [[asymmetric synthesis]].
===Medicinal use===
The medicinally active [[bark]], which is stripped from the tree, dried and powdered, includes other alkaloids that are closely related to [[quinine]] but react differently in treating malaria. As a medicinal herb, cinchona bark is also known as [[Jesuit's bark]] or Peruvian bark.
The plants are cultivated in their native South America, and also in other tropical regions, notably in [[India]] and [[Java (island)|Java]].
===History===
{{main|Jesuit's bark}}
[[Image:Koeh-179.jpg|thumb|19th century illustration of ''Cinchona calisaya'']]
The Italian botanist [[Pietro Castelli]] wrote a pamphlet noteworthy as being the first Italian publication that mentions the cinchona. By the 1630s (or 1640s, depending on the reference), the bark was being exported to Europe. In the late 1640s, the method of use of the bark was noted in the ''Schedula Romana'', and in 1677 the use of the bark was noted in the London Pharmacopoeia.
According to legend, the first European ever to be cured from malaria fever was the wife of the Spanish [[Viceroy]], the countess of Chinchon. The court physician was summoned and urged to save the countess from the waves of fever and chill that were threatening her life, but every effort failed to relieve her. At last the physician administered some medicine which he had obtained from the local Indians, who had been using it for similar syndromes. The countess survived the malarial attack and reportedly brought the cinchona bark back with her when she returned to Europe in the 1640s.
In 1753 [[Carolus Linnaeus]] named the bark ''Cinchona'' after the countess of Chinchon. The story of the cure of the countess, however, is doubtful.
[[Charles II of England|Charles II]] called upon Mr Robert Talbor, who had become famous for his miraculous malaria cure. Because at that time the bark was in religious controversy, Talbor gave the king the bitter bark decoction in great secrecy. The treatment gave the king complete relief from the malaria fever. In return, he was offered membership of the prestigious Royal College of Physicians.
In 1679 Talbor was called by the King of France, [[Louis XIV]], whose son was suffering from malaria fever. After a successful treatment, Talbor was rewarded by the king with 3,000 gold crowns. At the same time he was given a lifetime pension for this prescription. Talbor, however, was asked to keep the entire episode secret.
After the death of Talbor, the French king found this formula: six drams of rose leaves, two ounces of lemon juice and a strong decoction of the chinchona bark served with wine. Wine was used because some alkaloids of the cinchona bark are not soluble in water, but are soluble in wine.
The birth of [[homeopathy]] was based on [[quinine]] testing. The founder of homeopathy, Dr. [[Samuel Hahnemann]], when translating the Cullen's [[Materia medica]], noticed that [[William Cullen|Dr. Cullen]] wrote that quinine cures malaria and can also produce malaria. Dr. Hahnemann took daily a large non-homeopathic dose of quinine bark. After two weeks, he said he felt malaria-like symptoms. This idea of "like cures like" was the starting point of his writings on "Homeopathy".
In 1738, ''Sur l'arbre du quinquina'', a paper written by [[Charles Marie de La Condamine]], a member of the [[French Geodesic Mission|expedition]] that was sent to [[Peru]] to determine the length of a degree of the [[meridian (geography)|meridian]] in the neighbourhood of the [[equator]], was published by the [[French Academy of Sciences]]. In it he identified three separate species.[http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/usdisp/cinchona.html]
In 1742, on the basis of a specimen received from La Condamine, Linnaeus named the tree ''Quinquina condaminiae'' and established a new genus, which he termed ''Cinchona quinquina condaminiae''. In 1753 he described ''Cinchona officinalis'' as a separate species. [http://books.google.com/books?id=N4fyLSwLP3MC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=cinchona+la+condamine&source=web&ots=8U1k8mspB_&sig=5DiEd8TFi7fqpn1ianLWroDgtXA#PPA91,M1]
==History of cultivation==
The bark was very valuable to Europeans in expanding their access to and exploitation of resources in far off colonies, and at home. Bark gathering was often environmentally destructive, destroying huge expanses of trees for their bark, with difficult conditions for low wages that did not allow the indigenous bark gatherers to settle debts even upon death.{{Fact|date=September 2007}}
In 1860, a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] expedition to South America led by [[Clements Markham]] brought back Cinchona seeds and plants, which were planted in the [[Hakgala Botanical Gardens]] in [[Sri Lanka]] in January 1861.[http://www.agridept.gov.lk/NBG/H_cinco.htm] [[James Taylor (Ceylon)|James Taylor]], the pioneer of tea planting in Sri Lanka, was one of the pioneers of Cinchona cultivation.[http://www.dailymirror.lk/inside/justice/060116.asp] By 1883 about {{convert|64000|acre|km2}} were in cultivation in Sri Lanka, with exports reaching a peak of 15 million pounds in 1886.
==Treatments==
Cinchona has been used for a number of medical reasons such as:
* Treats malaria
* Kills parasites
* Reduces fever
* Regulates heartbeat
* Calms nerves
* Stimulates digestion
* Kills germs
* Reduces spasms
* Kills insects
* Relieves pain
* Kills bacteria and fungi
* Dries secretions
The main reason for its use is to treat malaria, but it is rarely used today as many people think it is dangerous, as it can kill if taken in large amounts.
==References and external links==
{{Commons|Cinchona calisaya}}
{{Commons|Cinchona pubescens}}
* [http://www.cuencanet.com/ortiz/cinchona.htm Cinchona project - Ortiz]
* [http://www.cuencanet.com/biologist/cinchona.htm Maricela Argudo's Cinchona Project]
* [http://www.bell.lib.umn.edu/Products/cinch.html Cinchona Bark]
* [http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/botany/botany_map/articles/article_08.html Using Bark to Cure the Bite]
* [http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~pczbl/cinch.html Cinchona Alkaloids]
* [http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/perbar29.html Peruvian Bark]
* [http://www.accessexcellence.org/21st/TL/sly/sly_imgWin14.html Cinchona photo]
* [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/thumbnails/html/cinchona_pubescens.htm Photos of Cinchona pubescens]
* Reader's Digest, Strange Stories, Amazing Facts II; Title : "The Bark of Barks" -Reader's digest publication
* ''The Journals of [[Hipólito Ruiz López|Hipólito Ruiz]]: Spanish Botanist in [[Peru]] and [[Chile]] 1777-1788'', translated by Richard Evans Schultes and María José Nemry von Thenen de Jaramillo-Arango, Timber Press, 1998
* Druilhe, P., ''et al.'', Activity of a combination of three ''Cinchona'' bark alkaloids against ''[[Plasmodium falciparum]]'' ''in vitro''. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 32(2):25-254.
* [http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/2008/how-to-make-your-own-tonic-water/ Make your own Tonic Water]
[[Category:Rubiaceae]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]
[[Category:Malaria]]
[[bg:Хининово дърво]]
[[ca:Quina]]
[[cs:Chinovník]]
[[da:Kinatræ]]
[[de:Chinarindenbäume]]
[[es:Cinchona]]
[[eo:Kinkono]]
[[fr:Cinchona]]
[[it:Cinchona]]
[[pl:Chinowiec]]
[[pt:Cinchona]]
[[qu:Kina-kina]]
[[ru:Хинное дерево]]
[[vi:Canh ki na]]
[[zh:金雞納樹]]