Inventions & Discoveries · Medicine and health
Quinine
Quinine is an alkaloid from the bark of the cinchona tree, native to Peru, used to treat malaria; extracts of the bark were used against malaria from at least 1632, and the substance itself was first isolated in 1820 by the French researchers Pierre Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaimé Caventou. Cinchona bark, known as Jesuit's bark or Peruvian bark, became one of the most valuable goods shipped from Peru to Europe. Quinine remained the antimalarial drug of choice until the 1940s and played a significant role in the European colonisation of Africa.
On the inventions tree
- First known
- by 1632
- Where
- Peru
- Credited to
- Viceroyalty of Peru
NoteThe alkaloid itself was isolated in 1820 by Pierre Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaimé Caventou; the story that the Countess of Chinchón brought the bark to Europe is a myth.
See also
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Quinine. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/quinine
- MLA
- “Quinine.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/quinine. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Quinine.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/quinine.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Quinine’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/quinine (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻