Cinnamomum verum, as illustrated by Franz Eugen Köhler, in his Medizinal-Pflanzen in naturgetreuen Abbildungen und kurz erläuterndem Texte, published in 1887
The cinnamon plant (Cinnamomum verum) is a diminutive evergreen tree in the Laurel (Lauraceae) family. This family contains some 55 genera and upwards of 4,000 species.
These are distributed throughout the world, but are particularly suited to the warm, tropical locales of southern India, Southeast Asia, and Brazil. Most members of the Lauraceae are evergreens, but some, including the north American Sassafras, are deciduous.
It is characteristic of nearly all the species comprising the Lauraceae that their bark, roots, flowers, and leaves tend to contain abundant quantities of aromatic, essential plant oils.
In the case of the “true” cinnamon plant, a native of Sri Lanka–an island nation previously known as Ceylon, positioned some 31 km off the southern coast of India, with whom it shares important cultural, linguistic, and religious affinities–these qualities are unusually virtuous.
The true cinnamon herb, and the spices derived from it, has been well-known throughout history, and has been called by a variety of names.
A mysterious spice for many centuries, its source was kept secret and obscured by numerous ruses and stories. These stories were spread by spice traders, ostensibly to maintain the highest price possible for their cinnamon sticks.
Thus, at various times in history, the price of cinnamon exceeded that of gold, ounce for ounce.
Even today, true cinnamon is a rarity among the spices that are, at least within the United States, labeled with the name “cinnamon.” In most other countries, only the herb derived from Cinnamomum verum can be labeled by that name, while herb from other species must be labeled as Cassia or under another name (the use of the name “cinnamon” being banned for them).
True Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum); close up of cinnamon stick
These other spices are derived from species in the Lauraceae family whose bark and leaves express considerably different fractions of plant oils from those found in true cinnamon. The bark of these species is hard, and rolled into sticks from a single sheet that cannot be ground with ordinary spice grinders.
True cinnamon, on the other hand, is encased in a thin, semi-hard shell that encloses numerous paper-thin sheets at the heart of each stick. These true cinnamon sticks are so soft they easily crumble in the hand, and can be ground with ease even using manual grinding implements, including–if the chef or apothecary desires–a simple mortar and pestle.
In Old Testament scriptures, cinnamon is first mentioned in a command to Moses to use sweet cinnamon and cassia–the latter being a spice derived from another cinnamon species (Cinnamomum aromaticum) that is native to southern China, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia–in holy annointing oil.
By designating the bark of Cinnamomum aromaticum as cassia, ancient spice merchants distinguished between true cinnamon and the produce of similar, but quite distinct species of the same genus.
Cassia bark, as well as the bark of every other Cinnamomum species except Cinnamomum verum, has a decidedly different chemical composition, fragrance, and taste from that of true cinnamon. Of particular chemical importance is the near-total absence of coumarin, a benzopyrone, in the bark of Cinnamomum verum.
This and the other variances in the chemical makeup of true cinnamon work together to make it exceptionally delicate. Other chemical constituents of this plant are as described below:
True Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), close up view of cross section of cinnamon stick
I. Essential Oil: 0.5 to 1.0% of the bark; higher fractions of the fresh leaves, comprising the following:
Cinnamic aldehyde or cinnamaldehyde: approximately 60-90% of the bark oil, this chemical is the organic compound responsible for its flavor and odor. It is a pale yellow viscous oil consisting of a phenyl group attached to an unsaturated aldehyde. It is used as a flavorant in chewing gum (where it has also been found effective against oral bacteria growth at the dorsal base of the tongue), ice cream, candy and beverages, at from 9 to 4,900 ppm (thus <5%), and as a fragrance in perfumes to impart a sweet, natural, fruity scent. As a highly effective fungicide, it is applied to botanical root systems. As an insecticide, applied to aquatic sites as sparingly as 30 ppm, it has proven extremely lethal to the larvae of certain mosquito species, killing them within 24 hours of application. Laboratory trials have shown cinnamaldehyde effective at inhibiting proliferation, invasion, and tumor growth when used in certain types of human melanoma.
Ethyl cinnamate: the ester of cinnamic acid and ethanol, this chemical is present in the essential oil of cinnamon, and imparts a fruity, balsamic odor.
Eugenol (obtained primarily from the leaves): an allyl chain-substituted guaiacol, eugenol is a member of the phelylpropanoid class of chemical compounds and is extracted from clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, basil, and bay leaves. It is nominally soluble in water, and highly soluble in organic solvents. It is commonly used as a flavorant of foods, cigarettes, and confections, a fragrance in perfumes and colognes, and as an anaesthetic, analgesic, and antiseptic in medicine.
Anethole (obtained primarily from the leaves): an aramotic, unsaturated ether, and known–besides as anethole–as paramethoxy phenyl propene, p-propenylanisole, and isoestragole. This chemical occurs widely in nature, particularly in the essential oils of certain botanicals. It is largely responsible for the flavors imparted by anise and fennel, liquorice, and star anise, and is a valuable commercial flavorant that is some 13 times sweeter than sugar. As a precursor to certain pheromones, it attracts honey bees and cucumber beetles. It acts as an antimicrobial, attacking bacteria, yeast, and fungi, with potential medical utility; it also acts as an antihelmintic against the eggs and larvae of the sheep gastrointestinal nematode Haemonchus contortus; and as a nematicide against the plant nematode Meloidogyne javanica. As an insecticide, it is effective against certain mosquitoes and fungus gnats.
True Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), ground and sticks.
Beta-caryophyllene: often cited as caryophyllene, is a natural bicyclic sesquiterpene constituent of essential botanical oils. It is unusual, in terms of chemical structure, in that it has a cyclobutane ring. Caryophyllene contributes to black pepper’s spiciness, and has been shown to bind to the cannabinoid receptor type-2, and is, therefore, a kind of cannabinoid (in fact, the first such cannabinoid approved by the FDA as a food additive). It has, not surprisingly, been shown to exert important cannabimimetic antiinflammatory effects in trials with mice. Because it does not bind to the centrally expressed cannabinoid receptor type-1, its effects are not psychomimetic.
Linalool: a natural terpene alcohol found in flowers and spice botanicals. It has many commercial applications, many of which are based on its floral fragrance. Certain botanicals in the Lamiaceae, Lauraceae, and Rutaceae families, comprising more than 200 species in all, are the most prolific sources of linalool. Molecularly it has a stereogenic center at C3, and thus is found in two stereoisomers, each of which evokes distinct neural responses in the human olfactory sense. Licareol–also known as (R)-Linalool–is present in cinnamon essential oil as well as in lavender, laurel, sweet basil, and others, and has a woody, lavender-like fragrance with an odor threshold of 0.8 ppb. Coriandrol–also known as S-linalool–is also present in cinnamon essential oil as well as in coriander, palmarosa, sweet orange, and others, and has a sweet, floral, petitgrain-like fragrance with an odor threshold of 7.4 ppb.
II. Aqueous (water) Extracts:
Cinnamtannin B1: Investigations into active compounds that influence adipogenesis (the process of cell differentiation by which preadipocytes become adipocytes, i.e., the natural development of fat cells) have shown that water soluble extracts of Cinnamomum verum, which are now known to contain cinnamtannin B1, mimic insulin in the human body. This finding partially explains how diabetics, particularly those with type 2 diabetes, benefit from supplementation with true cinnamon products.