Spices and perfumes – driving forces of humans
Spices and perfumes – driving forces of humans
Spices and perfumes – driving forces of humans
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Quinine<br />
Quinine is a white crystalline alkaloid that is<br />
extracted from the bark <strong>of</strong> cinchona trees od the<br />
SAm tropics. Its typical bitter taste is a repellent<br />
property & familiar from tonic water causing it to<br />
fluoresce (drink it in a UV disko). It binds to<br />
DNA & inhibits its replication <strong>of</strong> malaria-infected<br />
cells that absorb it in higher amounts than healthy<br />
cells.<br />
Quinine is an effective muscle relaxant, long used<br />
by the Quechua Indians <strong>of</strong> Peru to halt shivering<br />
due to low temperatures. The Quechua would mix<br />
the ground bark <strong>of</strong> cinchona trees with sweetened<br />
water to <strong>of</strong>fset the bark's bitter taste, thus producing<br />
first tonic water as a medicine.<br />
Quinine played a significant role in the colonization <strong>of</strong><br />
Africa by Europeans. Quinine was the prime reason<br />
that Africa ceased to be the "white man's grave".
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