• News
  • Movies
  • Money
  • Health
  • Agriculture
More
  • Agri News
  • Animal Husbandry
  • Organic Farming
  • Success Story
  • Gardening
  • Kitchen Garden
  • Herbal Garden
  • Tips for Farming

Cinchona tree which was used to make medicine for Malaria disappears from Kerala

As the technology to extract medicine from the bark of cinchona was developed, the tree was farmed widely all over the world.

# K R K Pradeep
Apr 24, 2020, 11:55 AM IST
T- T T+
Cinchona
X
×
Cinchona tree (Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

Konni (Pathanamthitta): Quinine was a medicine that gave relief to the world when Malaria outbreak occurred. The ingredients of this medicine was extracted from cinchona tree, a plant that was commonly found in Kerala. But now there is no trace of this tree in the state. This was found out in a study conducted by Kalleli Vayakkara native Arun, a Botany research scholar at Mahatma Gandhi University.

Quinine medicine was made from the bark of cinchona tree in the 1820's. The world faced severe scarcity of this medicine during the World Wars. In 1862, the then Resident of Travancore F N Maltby started cinchona cultivation in Peerumedu. As the technology to extract medicine from the bark of cinchona was developed, the tree was farmed widely all over the world.

cinchonaCinchona officinalis, Cinchona nitida, Cinchona succirubra, Cinchona micrantha, Cinchona peruviana and Cinchona calisaya were major species cultivated in Travancore. The bark of the tree was collected after the tree turns 15-25 years old. In 1869, the then Resident of Travancore Ballard distributed cinchona saplings to farmers to promote its propagation.

Cinchona trees were found in Nilgiri also. The then King of Travancore Ayilyam Thirunal Rama Varma brought the saplings of cinchona from Nilgiri. There were factories to extract quinine from cinchona in Travancore. In 1940, Travancore Sree Chithira State Council encouraged cinchona farming in order to resist the Malaria outbreak in the state.

Chloroquine, the new medicine for treating Malaria was invented in 1934. Also the government gave more importance to teak cultivation which in turn reduced cinchona farming and the trees gradually disappeared from here.

PRINT
EMAIL
COMMENT
 

Related Articles

Vinod in love with his root vegetables for over two decades
Agriculture |
Agriculture |
Crop insurance can be obtained without producing tax receipt
Agriculture |
Price of Nendran banana drops to Rs 25 per kg; lowest in 2 yrs
News |
Kerala will move Supreme Court against farm laws, says V S Sunil Kumar
 
 
  • Tags :
    • herbal garden
    • cinchona tree
    • Agriculture
More from this section
Mahkota Dewa
Indonesian herb Mahkota Dewa flourishes in Pathanamthitta
Black nightshade
Black nightshade aka 'Manathakkali', a cure to multiple diseases
Turmeric farming
70-year-old farmer cultivates turmeric in 5 acre, harvests 200 tonnes
Sethumadhavan in ginger farm
Ginger can be cultivated in grow bags too
Tulsi
Tulsi farming initiated in Mattathur to enhance immunity during pandemic times
News in Videos
News+ Kerala India NRI World Columns Features Offbeat Good News Crime
Leisure Movies & Music Sports Travel Books
Learn Money Education Agriculture
Lifestyle Health Tech Food Astrology
Multimedia Gallery Videos Mojo News News In Pics
Our Network Malayalam Print Mathrubhumi News TV Kappa TV Club FM Seed Silver Bullet FindHome Media School MBIFL Redmic
E-Paper
Subscription
Buy Books
Magazines
Classifieds
Archives
 
  • E-Paper
  • Subscription
  • Buy Books
  • Magazines
  • Classifieds
  • Archives
© Copyright Mathrubhumi 2020. All rights reserved.
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy
Terms of Use Archives
Ad Tariff Download App Classifieds
Buy Books Subscription e-Subscription
 
           
© Copyright Mathrubhumi 2020. All rights reserved.