Cinnamomum verum J.S.Presl - syn.Cinnamomum zeylanicum Nees; Laurus cinnamomum L.- Lauraceae
cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon, Ceylonzimtbaum, Kaneelbaum

Evergreen tree, up to 10m tall, native to Sri Lanka; bark yields the commercial cinnamon; leaves greenish white abaxially, green and shiny adaxially, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, very stiff, 10-16cm long, obtuse; flowers yellow-white, ca.6mm, in loose somewhat silky panicles which often exceed the leaves; fruit ovoid, 10-15mm, black when mature.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200008735

The striking feature of the tree cinnamon (bark/leaf/root bark) oils is their different main component, this being cinnamaldehyde in bark oil, eugenol in leaf oil, and camphor in root bark oil. Oils from Sri Lanka contained cinnamaldehyde (bark oil, 74%), eugenol (leaf oil, 87%), and camphor (root bark oil, 60%) e.g. (Wijesekera et al. 1974).
[Weiss, Edward A. Essential oil crops. Cab International, 1997, 180-195]

The steam-distilled oil of Cinnamomum verum flowers contained (E)-cinnamyl acetate (41.9%), (E)-α-bergamotene (7.9%), and caryophyllene oxide (7.2%).
[Chemical composition of the flower oil of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume., Jayaprakasha, G.K., Jagan Mohan Rao, L., Sakariah, K.K., Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 48(9), 2000, 4294-4295]

„The oils of four species of Cinnamomum from Madagascar were studied. C. zeylanicum contained predominantly (E)-cinnamaldehyde together with camphor (15%).“
[Chemical composition of leaf oils of Cinnamomum from Madagascar: C. zeylanicum Blume, C. camphora L., C. fragrans Baillon and C. angustifolium. Chalchat, J. C., Valade, I., Journal of Essential Oil Research, Vol.12(5), 2000, 537-540]

„The essential oil of the leaves of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume from South India was investigated by GC and GC/MS. More than 30 components have been identified with linalool (85.7%), eugenol (3.1%) β-caryophyllene (2.4%), (E)-cinnamaldehyde (1.7%) and α-terpineol as main compounds“
[Jirovetz, Leopold, et al. „Analysis of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume leaf oil from South India.“ Journal of Essential Oil Research 13.6 (2001): 442-443]

„The leaf oil of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume grown in Little Andaman was analysed by GC and GC-MS. Forty-seven constituents, representing 99.96% of the oil, were identified. The main constituents of the oil were eugenol (76.60%), linalool (8.5%) and piperitone (3.31%). The composition of the oil is comparable to cinnamon leaf oil produced in Bangalore and Hyderabad (south India) in terms of eugenol and linalool contents.“
[Raina, V. K., et al. „Essential oil composition of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume leaves from Little Andaman, India.“ Flavour and fragrance journal 16.5 (2001): 374-376]

Major constituents of the essential oils identified and quantified by gas chromatography were:
Cinnamon bark: cinnamaldehyde (50.5%), cinnamyl acetate (8.7%), β-caryophyllene (7.5%), 1,8 cineole (5.2%), eugenol (4.7%)
Cinnamon leaves: eugenol (76.9%), β-caryophyllene (3.5%), benzyl benzoate (2.8%), cinnamaldehyde (2.7%), linalool (2.2%)
[Fungicidal activity of essential oils of Cinnamomum zeylanicum (L.) and Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr et LM Perry against crown rot and anthracnose pathogens isolated from banana. Ranasinghe, L., Jayawardena, B., Abeywickrama, K., Letters in Applied Microbiology, Vol.35(3), 2002, 208-211] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1472-765X.2002.01165.x/full

Concerning the hydro-distilled volatile oil of the buds, α-bergamotene (27.3%) and α-copaene (23.0%) are found as major constituents, followed by α-humulene (6.1%). (E)-cinnamyl acetate (2.4%) was one of the minor components.
[Chemical composition of volatile oil from Cinnamomum zeylanicum buds., Jayaprakasha, G.K., Rao, L.J., Sakariah, K.K., Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C, 57(11-12), 2002, 990-993]

The steam-distilled volatile oil from cinnamon fruit stalks contained mainly (E)-cinnamyl acetate (36.5%) and (E)-caryophyllene (22.3%).
[Volatile constituents from Cinnamomum zeylanicum fruit stalks and their antioxidant activities., Jayaprakasha, G.K., Jagan Mohan Rao, L., Sakariah, K.K., Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 51(15), 2003, 4344-4348]

„The essential oil yields of the different plant parts were: tender twigs, 0.40%; pedicels of buds and flowers, 0.36%; buds and flowers, 0.04%; pedicels of fruits, 0.33%; fruits, 0.32%. The tender twig oil was richer in α-phellandrene (3.4%), limonene (1.6%) and (E)-cinnamaldehyde (4.0%). The volatile oils from pedicels were richer in neryl acetate (1.4-2.0%), (E)-cinnamyl acetate (58.1-64.5%) and β-caryophyllene (9.6-11.1%). Higher amounts of (Z)-cinnamyl acetate (6.1%), α-humulene (2.2%), δ-cadinene (2.2%), humulene epoxide I (5.0%), α-muurolol (4.9%) and α-cadinol (2.4%) were observed in the oil of buds and flowers. The fruit oil showed greater concentrations of α-pinene (4.2%), β-pinene (1.9%) and linalool (27.4%). However, all the oils contained linalool (3.6-27.4%), (E)-cinnamyl acetate (22.0-64.5%) and β-caryophyllene (6.9-11.1%) as their major compounds.“
[Volatile constituents of essential oils isolated from different parts of cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume)., Kaul, P.N., Bhattacharya, A.K., Rajeswara Rao, B.R., Syamasundar, K.V., Ramesh, S., Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 83(1), 2003, 53-55]

„The volatile oil of the bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum was extracted by means of supercritical CO2 fluid extraction in different conditions of pressure and temperature. Its chemical composition was characterized by GC-MS analysis. Nineteen compounds, which in the supercritical extract represented >95% of the oil, were identified. (E)-Cinnamaldehyde (77.1%), (E)-β-caryophyllene (6.0%), α-terpineol (4.4%), and eugenol (3.0%) were found to be the major constituents. The SFE oil of cinnamon was screened for its biological activity about the formation of melanin in vitro. The extract showed antityrosinase activity and was able to reduce the formation of insoluble flakes of melanin from tyrosine. The oil also delayed the browning effect in apple homogenate. (E)-Cinnamaldehyde and eugenol were found to be mainly responsible of this inhibition effect.“
[Supercritical CO2 extract of Cinnamomum zeylanicum: chemical characterization and antityrosinase activity., Marongiu, B., Piras, A., Porcedda, S., Tuveri, E., Sanjust, E., Meli, M., Rescigno, A., Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, Vol.55(24), 2007, 10022-10027]

The essential oil from the bark of C.zeylanicum has excellent antimicrobial effects against various pathogen E. coli strains.
[Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157: H7 by essential oil from Cinnamomum zeylanicum. Senhaji, O., Faid, M., Kalalou, I., Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vol.11(2), 2007, 234-236]

Kohl,F.G., Die officinellen Pflanzen der Pharmacopoea Germanica, t.35 (1891-1895) [F.G.Kohl]
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=244710

Cinnamomum verum J. Presl © Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Trieste
Zanzibar, Unguja Island near Stone Town, Tanzania, 19/08/2012
picture by Rodolfo Riccamboni CC BY-SA 4.0, http://dbiodbs.units.it/carso/chiavi_pub26?spez=24971

VIDEO: Cinnamon from Madagascar (IFF-LMR)