This is an amazing tree native to the highlands of South America. Over time, it was introduced to other parts of the world. Cinnamon tree is grown in the tropics. There is a version that the plant got its name in honor of the wife of the Viceroy of Peru, Countess Chinchon, after she was cured of fever (presumably malaria) by the cinchona bark in 1638.
Under natural conditions, the hindu tree prefers dense forests. Needs high humidity and moist soil.
A bit of history
More recently, malaria, which claimed thousands of lives every year, was considered one of the most common and dangerous diseases on Earth. In countries with a humid and warm climate, it was especially rampant. From ancient times, folk healers believed that the reason for this terrible ailment lies in the heavy vapors rising from the swamps. This is where its name came from (malare - "bad air").
Malaria has not spared America. But local natives have learned to treat this formidable disease. They made medicine from the bark of a tropical tree. It should be noted that the natives greatly appreciated this bark, as can be judged by the name - it was respectfully called "kina-kina", which means "the main bark".
When Europeans mastered America, they learned that a cure for malaria exists. But the natives were in no hurry to reveal the secret of the “Kina-Kina,” they kept this tree (hinny) secret from strangers. It took years to decipher the antimalarial drug.
The emergence of a cure for malaria in Europe
At the very beginning of the XVII century, in the Spanish colony of Peru, Luis Cinghong served as vice-king. He tried his best to help Europeans uncover the secret of antimalarial drugs. In 1638, his wife Anna Tsinghon (Chinchon) fell ill with a fever (as malaria was often called in those days). And a miracle happened: she was cured by the bark of some unknown tree.
After some time, Luis Tsinghon fell ill. The illness made him come to Spain in 1641. He brought with him a batch of the healing bark “Kina-Kina”. But at that time, European doctors failed to make an effective drug from it. Taunt of fate: Cinghon was the first to bring to Europe an effective cure for malaria, from which he himself died.
After that, the Europeans succeeded in all sorts of different ways - righteous, and often unrighteous - in ways to get the cortex from the natives and bring it to their continent. In the end, the medicine appeared in Europe. Particularly successful in the treatment of malaria is the doctor Talbor (Britain). He cured a lot of patients from this disease. His grateful patients included the French king Louis XIV.
As it turned out, the technology for preparing a healing product turned out, like all ingenious, to be surprisingly simple. The bark was ground into fine powder and poured with wine. The result was an incredibly bitter tincture. From the native name it began to be called "hina." The tree from which this bark was received, accordingly, became hinny. At the beginning of the 19th century, the famous Russian scientist F. I. Giza found out that the cortex gives the healing properties of the alkaloid contained in it. He was called quinine.
Europeans faced great difficulties trying to find a quinine tree (medicinal) in the forests. And yet, despite the active unwillingness of the natives to help them, his secret was solved. As it turned out, several types of trees belonging to the madder family (Rubiaceae) have a healing bark. They were united in one genus, and the great Karl Linnaeus gave him the name of cichon. The most widely used as a medicinal product is the red-corked quinine tree. The extract from this plant is popular today. It is used both in traditional and in folk medicine. But we will talk about this a little later.
Khin tree: description
This is an evergreen tree belonging to the madder family. It has a straight, slender trunk, the height of which reaches twenty meters. In natural conditions, this is a powerful plant with a dense spherical crown. The diameter of the barrel is about a meter. The trunk is covered with a brownish-gray bark, while young twigs have a reddish hue.
Leaves
Ovoid, widely elliptic, and sometimes almost round, leaves reach a length of fifty centimeters. They are painted in bright green color, usually shiny, leathery, pubescent along the veins. Petioles up to five centimeters long. Young leaves that have just turned around from the buds are painted in a bright red color, so the tree (quinine) is clearly visible in the forest. Perhaps this feature, combined with the reddish tone of the young branches, influenced the species name of the plant.
Flowers
The quin tree, the photo of which you see in our article, has very attractive flowers collected in umbrellas. They form wide-pyramidal paniculate, large inflorescences. Each flower has a five-toothed green pubescent green cup that remains with the fruits. The pink corolla is pubescent with a long tube and five lobes of limb. It has five stamens. Pestle densely pubescent in lower part, with bifid stigma and threadlike column. Stamens can be of different lengths. In botany, this phenomenon is called heterostyle. This is due to the adaptation of the plant to effective cross-pollination.
Fruit
They are an oblong two-nest box up to three centimeters long, pointed at both ends, brownish-brown in color. In each nest, up to twenty-five seeds develop. The seed is wrinkled and flat, light brown in color, surrounded by a wide brittle, thin-membered wing.
Tree extermination
We have already said that the homeland of this plant is the tropics of South America. When people appreciated the cinchona tree (properties in particular), the destruction of this species, gigantic in scope, began. In such a barbaric way, raw materials were procured.
Unlike the natives, who were very careful about valuable plants, the Europeans deployed the blanks so actively that the tree (hinny) was on its verge of destruction in their homeland. Trees were cut mercilessly, tore off the bark from them. Fortunately, already at that time there were smart people who began to cultivate the cinchona tree on the plantations. However, quite a story, let's move on to more practical issues.
Chinus tree: application
The main and most valuable raw material for the production of medicines is its bark. It contains 18% alkaloids, among which:
- quinidine;
- quinine;
- cichonidine;
- cichonin and others
The main alkaloid is quinine, the bark of the quinine tree contains up to 7.5% of this substance. It has a special effect on the causative agents of malaria - it affects their plasmodia, which are contained in the blood of a sick person. Various drugs from the quinine tree bark (the most effective are quinine salt solutions for injection) revolutionized the fight against the most serious disease, malaria.
British physicians forced the soldiers who served in India and other colonies where malaria was prevalent to drink a tonic (quinine water), which, like all preparations from the quinum tree, had an incredibly bitter taste. So that the soldiers did not refuse to accept this unpleasant, but necessary means, a little gin was added to it. This is how the custom that prevailed today in the West came to be rooted - before dinner, drink whiskey and gin and tonic.
Use in traditional medicine
Quinine and all the drinks it contains are effective on the digestive system of a person as a whole (like natural bitterness, they improve appetite and normalize gastrointestinal secretion). In our country, foreign-made quinine is used to treat malaria patients, produced in the form of a solution (sterile) - dihydrochloride. It goes on sale in injection ampoules.
The second alkaloid - quinidine - also found application in medicine. This is a stereoisomer of quinine, which is contained in a rather large amount in the cortex. In our country, quinidine sulfate powder is approved for use. It is recommended for use with arrhythmias, extrasystoles, tachycardia. The quinine bark improves digestion, has an antipyretic, astringent, antimicrobial effect. It is prescribed in the absence of appetite, asthenia, indigestion, alcoholism, catarrh of the upper respiratory tract, malaria, flu.
Outwardly, the bark is used to treat pressure sores that do not heal wounds for a long time, since it has pronounced astringent properties.
Contraindications:
- increased individual sensitivity to quinine and quinidine;
- pregnancy.
It is not recommended to take drugs based on the cinchona bark with anticoagulants, since it enhances their effect on the body.
Use in traditional medicine
Quinone extract is used as an antipyretic. In addition, it actively counteracts infectious diseases (flu, for example). Next, we consider the most popular recipes for the preparation of a drug.
Folk recipes: quinine tea
You will need a teaspoon of dry raw materials, which should be poured with 250 ml of boiling water and insisted for ten minutes. Then the composition must be filtered. Tea is used in 40 ml thirty minutes before a meal. Such a tool will increase appetite, normalize the digestive system.
For malaria, traditional healers recommend taking quinine at sunrise (one serving - one sachet of powder) for five days. Then you need to take a break for two days, and then continue the reception for another two days. After eating, you need to fall asleep. This is a prerequisite. The treatment lasts ten days.
At the origins of homeopathy
It can not be said that the bark of the cinchona tree, according to many experts, has given a powerful impetus to the development of homeopathy. At the very beginning of the use of this plant, the doctor Hahnemann (Germany) claimed that the medicine taken in small doses caused symptoms of the disease, which cured in large doses. Thus arose the principle on which homeopathy is based - "the like is cured by the like."
Healing extract
Quinine tree extract is a valuable source of quinine. This substance has been well studied. It is known for its antiseptic, astringent and tonic properties. Quinine is actively used in the treatment of fever and malaria in tropical countries. Use in large quantities in allergy sufferers can cause nausea and headache.
Use in homeopathy
Cinchona is a medicinal plant that has been widely used in homeopathy. It is used in low concentrations (D1 and D1) with general weakness caused by prolonged and severe illness, insufficient secretion of gastric juice. In such doses, chin acts like a great tonic. Higher concentrations (D4 - D6) are used for neuralgia, recurrent headaches, whooping cough and bronchitis, heart palpitations, gastrointestinal diseases, and problems with the biliary system, gout.
Herbal supplement
Nutramedix uses special technology to improve the composition and extraction of quinine bark. This ensures the production of a full spectrum extract with the highest bioactivity.
Recommendations for use
Shake well before use. Add to one to thirty drops of extract to four milliliters of water, wait one minute before use. You should start taking the drug with one drop twice a day before meals (30 minutes), the dosage should be increased daily, bringing it to thirty drops (or as prescribed by your doctor).
The extract is produced by NUTRA MEDIX. The price of the bottle (30 ml) is 2760 rubles.
Use in cosmetology
And in cosmetology, this amazing tree (quinine) has found application. Preparations based on its bark are used in the manufacture of products that improve hair growth and structure. Most often, a chinine extract is used for these purposes. It has an anti-seborrheic property, and therefore effectively fights against dandruff. It is introduced into the composition of therapeutic agents and anti-dandruff shampoos. Such shampoos regulate metabolism, restore hair, making them shiny and vibrant. Alcohol extract favorably affects the absorption of nutrient active substances by the skin cells, and effectively stimulates hair growth.
Quinine-containing balms and shampoos are a source of energy for weakened and tired strands. Means very gently care for them, relieve dandruff, facilitate combing. An example is Klorane shampoo and balm, which are available in 100 and 200 ml bottles (prices are 287 and 512 rubles).
In addition, quinine is often part of various sunscreens, as it is a natural filter that protects the skin from the damaging effects of sunlight.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the quinine tree really has a powerful healing effect, but we must not forget that it is a natural poison, and therefore non-compliance with the instructions and self-medication are strictly prohibited. Treatment, doses of the drug should be prescribed only by the attending physician.