Malaria Treatment and its History

Prior to Renaissance, it was only possible to address the symptoms of malaria. The first effective natural product, which became available in Europe for treatment of the disease, originated from Peru, where malaria had not been endemic prior to colonial times. Living in Lima, the Jesuit missionary and apothecary Agostino Salumbrino (1561-1642) observed that the Quechua-Indians, who 

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London native Charles Ledger (1818-1905), an adventurer and explorer, had spent four years in the Bolivian Andes and, with support from his local guide and taxonomy expert Manuel Incra Manami, he managed to identify Cinchona trees of superior quality, and to collect their seeds. In 1865, he smuggled a box 

178 Prior to further processing, labourers, including women and children, sorted out cinchona bark on the Cinchona estate TjinJIroean, West-Java. 

179 Quinine is a highly fluorescent compound, which makes it in beverages easily detectable under UVlight. Today s tonic water is not intended for medical use and has significantly lower quinine content than in Colonial times. In the United States, FDA regulations have set the current limit at 83 ppm. 

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