QINGHAOSU NOUN (HEALTH AND FITNESS)

A naturally occurring compound (also known as artemisinin) which is extracted from the Chinese plant Artemisia annua for use in the treatment of malaria. Etymology: A direct borrowing from Chinese qinghaosu, itself derived from qinghao, the Chinese name for the Artemisia plant, and a suffix meaning 'active principle'. The plant (a member of the wormwood family) grows alongside rivers in the North-East and South-West of China and is used as feed for pigs or against mosquitoes. History and Usage: The Chinese have known about the anti-malarial properties of the qinghao for many centuries--the leaves and stems are used in traditional Chinese medicine against fevers--but it was not until the early seventies that these were confirmed by rigorous testing and identification of the active ingredient, qinghaosu. News of the discovery was reported in the West in the late seventies and eighties; one reason for excitement over the discovery in medical circles is that this natural drug is effective against some types of malaria that are not treatable with synthetic anti-malarials. During the eighties qinghaosu was extracted from Artemisia plants cultivated outside China as well. One of the plants to come under scrutiny was a weed with a long history of use known in China as qing hao...The Chinese named the crystalline compound qinghaosu, meaning active principle, and the western version of the name is Artemisinin. The Times 22 July 1985, p. 12