Cinchona genus is the source of a variety of alkaloids, the most familiar of which is quinine, an antipyretic (antifever) agent especially useful in treating malaria. Cinchona alkaloids include: They find use in organic chemistry as organocatalysts in asymmetric synthesis. Alongside the alkaloids, many cinchona barks contain cinchotannic acid, a particular tannin, which by oxidation rapidly yields a dark-coloured phlobaphene called red cinchonic, cinchono-fulvic acid or cinchona red. In 1934, efforts to make malaria drugs cheap and effective for use across countries led to the development of a standard called "totaquina" proposed by the Malaria Commission of the League of Nations.
Cinchona knighted. For the role in establishing cinchona in Indonesia, Hasskarl was knighted with the Dutch order of the Lion. "Cinchona" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the engrailed, the commander, and members of the genus "Endoclita", including "E. damor", "E. purpurescens" and "E. sericeus". "Cinchona pubescens" has grown uncontrolled on some islands such as the Galapagos where it has posed the risk of outcompeting native plant species. In herbalism, cinchona bark was used as an adulterant in Jesuit's bark or Peruvian bark which originally is thought to have referred to "Myroxylon peruiferum",