Peruvian Bark

Peruvian Bark is the bark of one of several evergreen trees and was used from the early 17th century until the mid 19th century as a drug to treat chills and fevers, including those resulting from malaria.

The bark comes from any species of the R. Rubiaceae Cinchona evergreen, and the effective ingredient was Quinine. In the early days of use, the inner and outer bark were both collected, dried, and ground to a powder. Most of the bark came from two particular species: Cinchona Cascarilla roja and Cinchona Cascarilla serrana. A thick paste use in a poultice could be applied topically, and a thin, bitter solution was drunk. Both were effective for some fevers but dosage was problematic, since concentrations differed between batches.

In the 1820s, French researchers Pierre Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Caventou isolated, identified, and extracted the active ingredient. The trees were widely cultivated, particularly in Java and Malaya, and remained the only source of quinine and quinidine until the pressure of warfare led to methods of synthetic production in the early 1940s.

See also

• Jesuit's bark
• Quinine
• Cinchona