Cinnamon
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Cinnamon is a
spice obtained from the inner
bark of
Cinnamomum zeylanicum, a small
evergreen tree belonging to the Family
Lauraceae, native to
Sri Lanka. The
leaves are large, ovate-oblong in shape, and the
flowers, which are arranged in panicles, have a greenish colour and a rather disagreeable odour.
Cinnamon is principally employed in cookery as a condiment and flavouring material, being largely used in the preparation of some kinds of
chocolate and
liqueurs. In medicine it acts like other volatile oils and once had a reputation as a "cure" for
colds. The pungent
taste and
scent come from
cinnamic aldehyde or
cinnamaldehyde.
The best cinnamon is from
Sri Lanka, but the tree is also grown at Tellicherry, in
Java,
Sumatra, the
West Indies,
Brazil, and
Egypt. Sri Lanka cinnamon of fine quality is a very thin smooth bark, with a light-yellowish brown colour, a highly fragrant odour, and a peculiarly sweet, warm and pleasing aromatic taste. Its flavour is due to an aromatic
oil which it contains to the extent of from 0.5 to 1%. This essential oil, as an article of commerce, is prepared by roughly pounding the bark, macerating it in sea-water, and then quickly
distilling the whole. It is of a golden-yellow colour, with the peculiar odour of cinnamon and a very hot aromatic taste. It consists essentially of cinnamic
aldehyde and, by the absorption of
oxygen as it ages, darkens in colour and develops resinous compounds.
Cinnamon has been known from remote antiquity, and it was so highly prized among ancient nations that it was regarded as a present fit for monarchs and other great potentates. It is mentioned in
Exodus xxx. 23, where
Moses is commanded to use both sweet cinnamon (Kinnamon) and
cassia, and in
Proverbs vii, 17-18, where the lover's bed is perfumed with myrrh, aloe and cinnamon.\nIt is also alluded to by
Herodotus and other classical writers.
Being a much more costly spice than
cassia, that comparatively harsh-flavoured substance is frequently substituted for or added to it. The two barks when whole are easily enough distinguished, and their microscopic characteristics are also quite distinct. When powdered bark is treated with tincture of
iodine (a test for
starch), little effect is visible in the case of pure cinnamon of good quality, but when
cassia is present a deep-blue tint is produced, the intensity of the coloration depending on the proportion of the
cassia.
Culpepper's herbal advises a daily draught of cinamon in "any convenient liquor" against scurvy. Studies have found that using half a
teaspoon of cinammon a day significantly reduces blood sugar levels in
diabetics. The benefit, which can even be produced by soaking cinnamon in tea, also benefits non-diabetics who have blood sugar problem.
Reference
\n*Based on an article from 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
(Catalan canyella;\n
Spanish canela)
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\nSee also
Mission Impossible, \nCinnamon Carter,\n
Barbara Bain
Category:Spices
