"What is quinine? History and application of quinine in medicine and the food industry"
Wojciech Wiśniewski
2026-03-20
5 min. read
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Quinine, as a component of plant origin, has evolved into one of the oldest and most effective pharmaceutical agents used to combat the malaria epidemic in Europe and globally. Currently, this compound is utilized in the food industry to impart the distinctive flavor to popular tonic beverages.
Chinese
Chinoa bark contains a number of alkaloids that are characterized by many specific properties used in medicine and food technology. Among these compounds are quinine (0.84%), cynchonin (1.53%), cynchonidine (1.5??5%) and quinidine (0.020, 4%).. This bark is derived from chin trees that occur in tropical rainforests located in the Andes.
Chinese use in medicine
The use of quinine in medicine has proved to be a breakthrough and the most important discovery that has made it possible to effectively fight a dangerous disease, malaria, every year. The disease also called cold is a tropical parasitic disease that can be caused by a primate of the genus Plasmodium. This disorder is transmitted between infected and healthy people by mosquitoes of the species Anchuopheles. Every year around the world, 1.3 million people die from this disease, most of them up to 5 years old.
It's Chinese for hair
China has also found use in hair care, so it is used in the production of shampoos, ointments and masks. These products strengthen the hair follicles, prolong the hair growth phase and prevent hair loss. The strengthening properties of china are used, for example, by the Chlorane Laboratory, which has developed a whole series of cosmetic products to support hair care.
A Chinese woman is pregnant
In order to determine the effect of a medicinal product on fetal health, the classification of medicines used in pregnancy according to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) should be used. Group D of medicinal products includes quinine. What does that mean? This group includes medicines that have been shown to have an adverse effect on the fetus, but only in certain situations where the benefits are greater than the harm they can cause (e.g. life-threatening).
A sensitivity to Chinese
Some people develop an allergic reaction to the drug after taking a medicine for malaria called quinine. After taking the medicine, their body begins to produce antibodies against the drug, and the presence of quinine in their blood causes an abnormal immune response. What can be the symptoms of this phenomenon?
China's side effect
Before World War II, Chinese medicine was the primary drug used to treat malaria, but it was gradually replaced by its analogue, chloroquine. This was due to the fact that Chinese medicine caused numerous side effects in people who used it. As a result of taking these drugs, patients suffered from cinchonism, which was a pathological response of the body to taking excessive doses of Chinese medicine.
Chinese in tonic
This compound is also used in the food industry in the form of water-soluble quinine hydrochloride salt, which is initially used in large quantities to give a specific, bitter taste to the popular product, the tonic. The first tonics contained only carbonated water and quinine, but now they are also added to sugar and other sweetening substances. However, initially in fear of harmful effects in people consuming this type of drink, it is strictly prohibited to sell and produce it. Since then, more and more products of this type were introduced on the Polish market.
