Publication
from Agroforestree Database: a tree reference and selection guide
version 4.0
by C. Orwa, A. Mutua, R. Kindt, R. Jamnadass and S. Anthony
Cinnamomum verum Presl.
Local Names: Creole
(kanèl); English (cinnamon tree, true cinnamon, ceylon
cinnamon); French (cannelle, cannellier, cennellier de Ceylon); Hindi
(elavagnum, vayana, karu va, karuwa,twak); Indonesian (kayu manis);
Luganda (budalasini); Malay (kayu manis); Spanish (canelero, canela
legítima, canela); Trade name (cinnamon)
Family: Lauraceae
Botanic
Description
Cinnamomum verum is an
evergreen tree that reaches a height of 8-17 m in the wild. In an
unharvested state, the trunk is stout, 30-60 cm in diameter, with a
thick, grey bark and the branches set low down.
Leaves stiff,
extipulate, opposite, somewhat variable in form and size. Petiole 1-2
cm long, grooved on the upper surface. Lamina usually 5-18 x 3-10 cm,
ovate or elliptic; base more or less rounded and the tip tends to be
somewhat acuminate. There are 3, sometimes 5, conspicuous longitudinal
veins found at the base of the lamina and running almost to the tip.
The young leaves of the flush are reddish, later turning dark green
above with paler veins and pale glaucous beneath.
Flowers borne
in lax axillary and terminal panicles on the ends of twigs. Peduncles
creamy white, softly hairy, 5-7 cm long. Individual flowers very small,
about 3 mm in diameter, pale yellow, with a foetid smell, each
subtended by a small, ovate, hairy bract. The calyx is campanulate and
pubescent with 6 acutely pointed segments. Corolla absent.
Fruit a fleshy ovoid drupe, black, 1.5-2 cm long when ripe, with the enlarged calyx at the base.
The
etymology of cinnamon is derived from the Greek word
‘kinnamomon’ The etymology of cinnamon is derived from the
Greek word ‘kinnamomon’ (meaning spice). The Greeks
borrowed the word from the Phoenicians, indicating trade with the East
from early times. Cinnamon is recorded in Sanskrit, the Old Testament,
and in Greek medicinal works and was employed by the Egyptians for
embalming purposes as early as 1485 BC. A species synonym, ‘zeylanicum’, refers to the place of origin, the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Biology
The method of
pollination is not known with certainty, but insects probably pollinate
the very small bisexual flowers, while birds disperse the fruit
berries. In Sri Lanka, the trees flower in January and the fruits ripen
6 months later.
Ecology
C. verum
requires a warm and wet climate with no extremes of heat and cold.
Although there can be months in which there is less rain, no prolonged
dry season should occur and rain received on about 150 days per year.
Rocky and stony ground is unsuitable. Waterlogged and marshy areas
should be avoided, as they result in an undesirable, bitter product,
which is much less aromatic. C. verum is indigenous to Sri Lanka, with smaller areas of wild trees found in southwestern parts of India
Biophysical
Limits
Altitude: Below 500 m, Mean annual temperature: 27 deg. C, Mean annual rainfall: Over 2 000 mm
Soil type: Tolerant of a wide range of soils
Documented
Species Distribution
Native: India, Sri Lanka
Exotic: Brazil, Colombia,
Comoros, Dominica, Fiji, Ghana, Haiti, Indonesia, Jamaica, Madagascar,
Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Philippines, Puerto
Rico, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda
The
map above shows countries where the species has been planted. It does
neither suggest that the species can be planted in every ecological
zone within that country, nor that the species can not be planted in
other countries than those depicted. Since some tree species are
invasive, you need to follow biosafety procedures that apply to your
planting site.
Products
Food: Cinnamon bark oil is used
in meat and fast-food seasoning, sauces and pickles, baked goods,
confectionery and cola-type drinks. The leaf oil is also used as a
flavouring agent for seasonings and savoury snacks. The oil’s
high eugenol content makes it valuable as a source of this chemical for
subsequent conversion into iso-eugenol, another flavouring agent. In
Mexico, the bark is used to enhance the flavour of coffee.
Timber: Sapwood is light brown,
slightly soft; heartwood is brownish-yellow with green cast, or olive
to light olive brown to blackish-brown, medium to coarse texture,
satiny or silky lustre, straight and often rosy grain, spicy odour.
Excellent working qualities.
Gum or resin: The oleoresin may
be prepared by extracting cinnamon bark with a variety of organic
solvents. It contains the steam-volatile oil, fixed oil and other
extractives of the spice soluble in the particular solvent employed.
Little published information is available on the detailed composition
of cinnamon oleoresins, but the volatile oil content has been reported
to range upwards from 16%.
Essential oil: Cinnamon bark
oil possesses the delicate aroma of the spice and a sweet pungent
taste. Its major constituent is cinnamaldehyde but other, minor
components impart the characteristic odour and flavour. It is employed
mainly in the food flavouring industry but is also used in tobacco
flavours and for incense. It has limited use in some perfumes. In Sri
Lanka, cinnamon bark oil is produced by distillation of chips and
variable amounts of featherings (pieces of inner bark from twigs and
twisted shoots) and quillings (broken fragments of quills). In many
cases, the older form of hydro-distillation is used, in which chips and
water are placed together in the distillation vessel, which is heated
by direct fire. Modern methods involve steam distillation.
Cinnamon leaf oil has a warm, spicy, but rather harsh odour,
lacking the rich body of the bark oil. Its major constituent is eugenol
rather than cinnamaldehyde. As a cheap fragrance, it is added to soaps
and insecticides. The leaves left after trimming, cut stems, and
prunings provide the raw material for production of cinnamon leaf oil.
Medecine: Cinnamon bark oil is
employed in dental and pharmaceutical preparations. Historically,
cinnamon drops were regarded as a tonic, a sedative in childbirth, and
a remedy for many common disorders. Cinnamon served as a breath
sweetener in the past. In medieval times, cinnamon was distilled to
produce cordials, ostensibly to aid in digestion. In the Orient,
cinnamon and its near relatives are still widely used for local
remedies, particularly for gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders
and as an aphrodisiac. In the Philippines and the Pacific, it is taken
to relieve headache. In Colombia, cinnamon sticks are chewed to speed
parturition. In Ghana, bark of young shoots are used as a carminative
and to treat catarrh (coryza), and the bark extract is an intestinal
astringent. In Haiti, the essence is used as a poultice for rheumatism
and is taken orally for spasms and for stomach and intestinal gas.
Tree
Management
C. verum
usually coppices well. Commercial production of cinnamon bark entails
cutting the stems down low after an initial establishment period and
harvesting the bushy regrowth stems at regular intervals thereafter.
Stems are cut during the rainy season to facilitate peeling of the bark
in 2 longitudinal strips. Details of harvesting practice differ
slightly from country to country, but the basic principles are the
same. The bark strips are packed together in heaps for a day or 2, and
then the outer bark is scraped off. The inner bark curls to form the
cinnamon quill of commerce. Poor quality quills are used for oil
extraction. Smaller pieces, from twigs and broken bark sections, are
mixed together as ‘quillings’ and are ground up and steamed
to extract the essential oil.
In Sri Lanka, a 1st harvest may be obtained after 3-4 years, although quality and yield improve with subsequent cuttings.
Under
cultivation, the continual removal of shoots by cropping almost to
ground level results in the formation of a dense bush 2-2.5 m high with
a number of leafy, coppiced shoots. Wild trees reach 20 m in height. On
plantations, cinnamon is cut every 2 years, and the flush of straight
shoots generated by coppicing produces the bark that is peeled for
cinnamon quills.
The local conditions, particularly the type of
soil under which the crop is grown, have a profound effect on the
quality of the bark produced.
Germplasm
Management
Recalcitrant
seed storage behaviour; short lived at ambient temperature; viability
is reduced to 80% after 7 days; and complete loss in viability after 40
days storage in polythene bags at room temperature. P50 = 6 days when
stored at 25 deg. C with 80-91% r.h. for 2 weeks, then at 4 deg. C with
80% r.h.
Pests and
Diseases
A large
number of insects have been recorded on cinnamon, but they usually
represent single records in the early years of the century and none
appears to have caused serious widespread damage.
Stripe canker, Phytophthora cinnamomi,
is found on the trunks and branches, particularly of young trees and
under badly drained conditions, for example, in higher rainfall areas
of Hawaii, the fungus attacks the bark. Vertical strips of dead bark
occur, particularly near ground level. Root rots are caused by Rosellinia spp., a brown rot by Phellinus lamaenis, and a white rot by Leptoporus lignosus. Pink disease, Corticium salmonicolor, has been found on cinnamon as well as on Cinnamonum javanicum. It causes pink encrusted areas on the stem with death of the smaller shoots. A rust, Aecidium cinnamomi, and leaf diseases caused by Leptosphaeria spp. and Exobasidium spp. have also been recorded.
Further
Reading
Coppen JJW. 1995. Flavours and fragrances of plant origin. FAO Non-wood forest products No. 1.
Gulati BC. 1982. Essential oils of Cinnamomum. In: Cultivation and utilization of Aromatic plants. CSIR. Jammu-Tawi.
Hong TD, Linington S, Ellis RH. 1996. Seed storage behaviour: a compendium. Handbooks for Genebanks: No. 4. IPGRI.
Perry LM. 1980. Medicinal plants of East and South East Asia : attributed properties and uses. MIT Press. South East Asia.
Purseglove JW. 1968. Tropical crops. Dicotyledons. Longman Group Ltd, UK.
Smith JHN et. al. 1992. Tropical forests and their crops. Cornell University Press.
Timyan J. 1996. Bwa Yo: important trees of Haiti. South-East Consortium for International Development. Washington D.C.
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