Cinnamon Essential oil

Plant Description:

Cinnamomum tamala is a medium-sized evergreen tree about 8 meters tall. Leaves simple, short-stalked, leathery, ovate, lanceolate, long pointed 10- 15 cm long with 3 conspicuous nearly parallel veins arising from near the base, bright pink when young in spring, aromatic when crushed. Flowers pale yellow, in the terminal and axillary-branched clusters. Fruits are ovoid drupe, black, and succulent. The bark is used to manufacture an aromatic essential oil (makes up 0.5% to 1% of its composition). The oil is obtained by roughly pounding the bark, macerating it in seawater, and then quickly distilling the whole.

Product Description:

Cinnamomum tamala is a moderate-sized evergreen tree which is the source of Cinnamomum tamala leaves and the Indian cassia bark. It is distributed in tropical and sub-tropical Himalayas; therefore, it is grown widely in the Chure range of Nepal at an altitude of 1500 m. It has aromatic leaves and barks which are used for culinary and medicinal purposes. It is one of the significant sources of the medicinal plant leaves known in classic and medieval times as malabathrum. The cinnamon oil and extracts exhibit antibacterial, anti-fungal, and antiviral properties. Cinnamon oil is an aromatic, astringent, stimulant, expectorant, and carminative. The oil shows potent antibacterial and anti-fungal activity.

Chemical Constituents:

In the essential oil from the leaves, mostly monoterpenoids were found: Linalool (50%) is the major compound, whereas a-pinene, p-cymene, ß-pinene, and limonene range around 5 to 10% each. Phenylpropanoids appear only in traces: Newer work reports 1% cinnamic aldehyde and no eugenol, whereas older literature speaks of traces of both compounds. Leaves and twigs afford essential oil containing cinnamaldehyde as a major constituent; others include- ά and β –pinene, limonene, β-phellandrene, ρ- cymene, ocimene, γ –terpinene camphor, linalool, borneol, β- caryophellene, ά-terpineol, benzyl cinnamate, benzaldehyde, eugenyl acetate, eugenol, and cinnamyle acetate.