Cinchona Bark Vs. Willow Bark
When it comes to medicinal tree bark, cinchona bark and willow bark have been around for centuries. While both varieties are healers, willow bark has been successfully used for far longer, or an estimated 6,000 years. Does this Spark an idea?
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Uses
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Cinchona bark is used as an anti-malaria drug, but it also prescribed for such ailments as varicose veins, vascular spasm leg cramps and internal hemorrhoids. When not extracted for medicinal uses, quinine doubles as a flavoring for foods and beverages. Willow bark has been used for centuries as a remedy for pain and inflammation, but in the modern world, the bark's extract is prescribed as a pain reliever, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory drug.
Discovery
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Ancient civilizations were the first to use willow bark for medicinal purposes. Cinchona bark was first utilized as a drug in the mid-17th century, although some accounts place the first remedy as early as 1638, when the Countess of Chinchon, the wife of a Peru viceroy, took the bark to cure a deadly fever.
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Tree Differences
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A cinchona is a short evergreen shrub that produces oblong seed capsules, while willows are found in tree, shrub or ground-cover form. Willows are found around the globe, while cinchonas are native to Central and South America and are cultivated in Africa and southeast Asia.
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References
Resources
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