Chemical Properties
The Ceylon cinnamon tree can grow to 10 m. It has long, lanceolated leaves, small flowers in clusters and small fruits.
It is cultivated by extensive pruning (coppicing). Increasingly, significant plantations are available in the Seychilles and in Brazil. The
whole outer bark is peeled from the trees every 2 years; the outer corky layer is removed by careful scraping, and the bark strips are
sun-dried. Cinnamon, commercially known as “Saigon cinnamon,” has superior odor and flavor and is produced from the bark of
trees grown in the Saigon district of Vietnam. Saigon cinnamon is used mainly as a ground spice. Chinese cinnamon or cassia is the
dried bark of C. cassia, a large tree that grows wild in Southeast Asia. The dried inner bark of the shoots of coppiced trees and the
leaves are the parts used. Cinnamon has a somewhat bitter flavor, slightly pungent and burning.
The genus Cinnamomum includes several species of great economic importance with various species or parts of the same plant
producing different and variable products for human use. For detailed description of cinnamon, refer to Burdock (1997).
Occurrence
Cinnamon is found in India, South America, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies.
Uses
Cinnamon is a spice made from the dried bark of the evergreen tree
cinnamomum cassia. commercial types are saigon cassia and batavia
cass ia . cey lon c innamon is the d r ied inne r ba rk o f shoo ts o f
c . zey lanicum nees. in the ground form it is used in beverages,
desserts, and fruits while in the stick form it is used in beverages,
meats, and fruits.
Composition
The essential oils are primarily constituted of 65 to 80% cinnamaldehyde and lesser percentages of
various other phenols and terpenens, including eugenol, trans-cinnamic acid, hydroxycinnamaldehyde, o-methoxycinnamaldehyde,
cinnamyl alcohol and its acetate, limonene, α-terpineol, tannins, mucilage, oligomeric procynidine and trace amounts of coumarin.
Aroma threshold values
Detection for cinnemaldehyde: 750 ppb
