Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Ghana quinine is the root of a climbing shrub, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta. In Twi it is called Nibima. The root is yellow inside and very bitter.
In Ghana it has long been drunk as a tea for fever and malaria. Today it is sold as dried root, tea bags, capsules and tinctures. Outside Africa it is often marketed for Lyme disease.
The evidence verdict is thin. There are a few small, weak human studies on malaria, and little else. Most of what people say about it comes from test tubes and animals.
Long use in a healing tradition is not proof that something works. It is not proof that it is safe either. Both things have to be shown in people, and here they have not been.
This page gives no dose and no recipe. Malaria is a disease that can kill within days. It needs a blood test and tested medicine from a doctor.
The short answer: nobody has shown how it works in the human body.
The main suspect is cryptolepine, a yellow alkaloid in the root. In test tubes, cryptolepine kills the malaria parasite at low amounts. Whether a cup of tea does the same inside a person is not known.
In cell studies, cryptolepine slides in between the two strands of DNA. It also blocks topoisomerase II, an enzyme (a worker protein) that cells need to copy DNA.
That action may help explain why it harms parasites. It is also why it can harm human cells in the lab. This is a real reason for care, not a selling point.
In lab tests, root extracts also slow some bacteria and damp down markers of inflammation (swelling). In animals, extracts have lowered blood sugar and blood pressure.
None of these findings have been confirmed in people. Treat them as leads for research, not as reasons to drink the tea.
You may meet it in several forms. Strength is not the same across them.
- Dried root chips or shavings, boiled as a tea - Powdered root, loose or in tea bags - Capsules of powdered root or extract - Alcohol tinctures, common in Lyme protocols sold online - Mixed herbal blends where it is one of several plants
In Ghana, a tea bag product made from the root has been sold for malaria for years. It was developed from state research work.
Outside West Africa, most products are supplements. They are not checked for strength in the way a medicine is.
Healers across Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea and Senegal used the root for fever for generations.
In Twi-speaking Ghana it was known as Nibima. The root was boiled and the bitter liquid drunk for fevers that we would now call malaria. It was also used for stomach upsets, urinary problems and infected wounds.
From the 1970s, scientists in Ghana studied the plant closely. A state plant medicine centre at Mampong worked on it and helped turn it into a packaged tea.
That long record shows the plant mattered to people. It does not show that the tea cures malaria, and it does not make the tea safe to use alone.
Some reactions to Ghana quinine / Nibima need urgent care. Call your local emergency number or go to an emergency department straight away — do not wait to see whether it passes.
Call emergency services now if someone with a fever has any of these: - confusion, drowsiness or a fit (seizure) - trouble breathing or very fast breathing - repeated vomiting and cannot keep fluids down - very dark or red urine, or passing little urine - yellow eyes or skin - bleeding or bruising that will not stop
See a doctor the same day if you have a fever after travel to a malaria area. Ask for a malaria blood test. Say that you have taken a herbal remedy.
Stop taking it and get advice if you feel dizzy, faint, shaky or sick while using it.
In Ghana, root products are registered as herbal medicines and sold for malaria. In the UK, EU and United States it is sold only as a supplement, with no licence to treat or prevent any disease.
Do not swap one treatment for another on your own. Bring these options to a doctor or pharmacist.
- For fever after travel: ask a doctor or travel clinic for a malaria blood test the same day. - For confirmed malaria: a doctor can prescribe tested tablets, such as artemisinin-based combination therapy. - For malaria prevention: a travel clinic can advise on preventive tablets, bed nets and repellent. - For suspected Lyme disease: ask your doctor, or an infectious disease specialist, about testing and antibiotics. - For fever comfort at home: a pharmacist can advise on paracetamol and fluids.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
One email with the summary. We'll also send a short weekly evidence update — unsubscribe any time.
