Cinchona tree

Cinchona species grow mostly as trees, rarely as shrubs. They have flattened buds with erect leaves, the flowers are stalked, yellow, pink, purple to red. The fruit is a capsule with winged seeds.

The Cinchona genus of plants, also called Chinese trees, belongs to the Rubiaceae family (redbud family) and includes about 23 species originally distributed in Central America (Costa Rica, Panama) and western South America (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil). The tree grows up to 15 m high. The name Cinchona means "bark of barks" translated from the Spanish quinaquina. The main active ingredient is "quinine", an alkaloid with a bitter taste. Today, some species are cultivated worldwide to obtain quinine. The antipyretic effect of the rings has been known since lamgem, in 1827 the active ingredient quinine. Quinine was used for fever, malaria, but also as a bitter substance to liqueur and tonic water - see Bitter Lemon. The bark also contains quinidine, cinchonine, cinchonidine, catechine tannins, tannin precursors and bitter substances of the triterpene type (quinovosides).

The dried bark ( cinchona cortex) is used phytotherapeutically.

Cinchona pubescens (red cinchona tree) is together with Chinona calisaya (yellow cinchona tree) and their varieties the parent plant of Cinchona Cortex.

Cinchona pubescens extract (INCI) is an extract from the cinchona tree used in cosmetic preparations.

1. https://arzneipflanzenlexikon.info/chinarindenbaum.php