Kino (botany)

Kino is a botanical gum produced by various trees and other plants, particularly bloodwood species of eucalypts (Angophora, Corymbia, Eucalyptus) and Pterocarpus, in reaction to mechanical damage,[1] and which can be tapped by incisions made in the trunk or stalk.

Many Eucalyptus, Angophora and Corymbia species are commonly referred to as 'bloodwoods', as the kino usually oozes out a very dark red colour.

[9] Of the small angular glistening fragments, the smaller are reddish, and the larger are almost black; thin pieces are ruby red.

When described by him, it was believed to have been brought from the river Gambia in West Africa, and when first imported it was sold in England as Gummi rubrum astringens gambiense.

In the early 20th century, the drug recognized as the legitimate kind was East Indian, Malabar or Amboyna kino which is the evaporated juice obtained from incisions in the trunk of Pterocarpus marsupium.

The drug was frequently used in diarrhoea, its value being due to the relative insolubility of kinotannic acid, which enabled it to affect the lower part of the intestine.