Question

The anti-malarial drug quinine is made from a plant. The plant is.
A. Neem
B. Eucalyptus
C. Cinnamon
D. Cinchona

Answer 1

Hint: Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum that is resistant to chloroquine when the artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for restless legs syndrome, quinine is not recommended for this purpose due to the risk of serious side effects. It can be taken by mouth or intravenously. Quinine is also the ingredient in tonic water that gives it its bitter taste.

Complete answer: Quinine was first isolated in 1820 from the bark of a cinchona tree, which is native to Peru. Bark extracts had been used to treat malaria since at least 1632 and it was introduced to Spain as early as 1636 by Jesuit missionaries from the New World. Cinchona is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. Cinchona has been historically sought after for its medicinal value, as the bark of several species yields quinine and other alkaloids that were the only effective treatments against malaria during the height of European colonialism, which made them of great economic and political importance. The bark of trees in this genus is the source of a variety of alkaloids, the most familiar of which is quinine, an antipyretic (anti-fever) agent especially useful in treating malaria. The alkaloid mixture or its sulfated form mixed in alcohol and sold quinetum was however very bitter and caused nausea, among other side effects.
Cinchona alkaloids include- cinchonine and cinchonidine, quinine and quinidine, dihydroquinine, and dihydro quinidine.
Hence, the correct option is (D)-Cinchona

Note: The artificial synthesis of quinine in 1944, an increase in resistant forms of malaria, and the emergence of alternate therapies eventually ended large-scale economic interest in cinchona cultivation, but academic interest continues, as many cinchona alkaloids show promise in treating falciparum malaria, which has evolved resistance to synthetic drugs.