The Properties of Cinnamon Essential Oil

properties of cinnamon essential oil

The Essential Properties of Cinnamon

by the Doctor Matteo Politi

Pharmacological activity

Cinnamon It is one of the most important spices used daily by people all over the world. In addition to having antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, antimicrobial, anti-tumor, hypolipidemic and cardiovascular disease reducing properties, cinnamon has also been reported to have activity against neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.3 Essential oils retain some of these properties including those listed below.

Antimicrobial activity

The antimicrobial and antifungal activity of some spices, including cinnamon, is known in the literature.4 Essential oils extracted from different parts of cinnamon, mainly the stem bark and leaves, show remarkable antibiotic and antifungal effects acting on a wide range of microorganisms.5; among these we find Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Bacillus subtilis (Gram-negative organisms were found to be more sensitive than Gram-positive ones)6, various species of Aspergillus (A. fumigatus, A. niger, A. flavus, A. parasiticus, A. terreus and A. ochraceus)7, beyond Trichophyton mentagrophytes, T. tonsurans, T. rubrum, Microsporum canis, M. gypseum, M. audouini, Aspergillus fumigates, Candida albicans, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis and Crytococcus neoformans8, to name a few examples.

Anti-diabetic activity

Although the antidiabetic properties of cinnamon are known both in various herbal traditions and in scientific literature9–11, the evidence with respect to essential oils alone is less present in the literature. Currently, there are only studies on animal models with partially promising results.12

Antioxidant activity

Both cinnamon essential oils, from bark and leaves, show significant antioxidant effects evaluated with simple in vitro assays.13,14 This property can be attributed to the presence of few phenolic compounds, both major and minor.

Insecticidal activity

The mosquito control properties of cinnamon leaf and bark essential oils and eight compounds contained therein were studied against Culex quinquefasciatus, Anopheles tessellatus And Aedes aegypti. The essential oil of bark has shown good killing and mortality against A. tessellatus (LD50 0.33 µg / mL) and C. quinquefasciatus (LD50 0.66 µg/mL) compared to leaf oil (LD50 1.03 and 2.1 µg/mL). Cinnamaldehyde was a major component of the bark essential oil and eugenol in the leaf essential oil. Cinnamaldehyde and eugenol were both more active against C. quinquefasciatus, A. tessellatus And A. aegypti compared to their respective essential oils (from bark and leaves). The anti-mosquito activity of cinnamyl acetate against the three insect species tested was comparable to that of the bark essential oil, while eugenyl acetate was effective on A. tessellatus And C. quinquefasciatus. The other compounds showed little or no activity against the mosquitoes tested.15

Phytochemical profile

Cinnamon essential oil (Cinnamon green J.Presl; also known by many synonyms including Cinnamon zeylanicum Blume) can be obtained from different parts of the plant such as leaves, bark, fruits, root bark, flowers and buds. In an exhaustive research, the different essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS.1 More than 80 compounds have been identified from the different parts of cinnamon. The essential oil obtained from the leaves contains mostly one of the most known and important compounds of this plant (and not only) called eugenol. Cinnamaldehyde and camphor are the main components of the essential oils from the stem bark and root respectively. Trans-cinnamyl acetate is the main compound of fruit, flowers and fruit stems. The essential oil obtained from the bark is used in the food and pharmaceutical industry while the one obtained from the leaves is cheaper and is used in the flavoring industry.2

Cinnamon green J.Presl

  • Angiosperms
  • Lauraceae
  • cinnamon

botanical nomenclature source

 

Bibliography

1. Jayapkasha GK, Rao LJM. Chemistry, biogenesis, and biological activities of cinnamomum zeylanicum. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2011;51:547–562. doi:10.1080/10408391003699550

2. Cardoso-Ugarte GA, López-Malo A, Sosa-Morales ME. Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) essential oils. In: Essential Oils in Food Preservation, Flavor and Safety. ; 2016:339-347. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-416641-7.00038-9

3. Rao PV, Gan SH. Cinnamon: A multifaceted medicinal plant. Evidence-based Complement Altern Med. 2014:642942. doi:10.1155/2014/642942

4. Liu Q, Meng X, Li Y, Zhao CN, Tang GY, Li H Bin. Antibacterial and antifungal activities of spices. Int J Mol Sci. 2017;18:1283. doi:10.3390/ijms18061283

5. Ranasinghe P, Pigera S, Premakumara GS, Galappaththy P, Constantine GR, Katulanda P. Medicinal properties of “true” cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum): A systematic review. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013;13:275. doi:10.1186/1472-6882-13-275

6. Dubey R, Rana A, Shukla R. Antimicrobial activity of some common spices against certain human pathogens. Indian Drugs. 2005;42:443–446.

7. Carmo ES, Lima EDO, De Souza EL, De Sousa FB. Effect of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume essential oil on the growth and morphogenesis of some potentially pathogenic Aspergillus species. Brazilian J Microbiol. 2008;39:91–97. doi:10.1590/S1517-83822008000100021

8. Jantan I Bin, Karim Moharam BA, Santhanam J, Jamal JA. Correlation between chemical composition and antifungal activity of the essential oils of eight Cinnamomum species. Pharm Biol. 2008;46:406–412. doi:10.1080/13880200802055859

9. Leach MJ, Kumar S. Cinnamon for diabetes mellitus. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012:1-82. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007170.pub2

10. Pham AQ, Kourlas H, Pham DQ. Cinnamon supplementation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Pharmacotherapy. 2007;27(4):595–599. doi:10.1592/phco.27.4.595

11. Kizilaslan N, Erdem NZ. The Effect of Different Amounts of Cinnamon Consumption on Blood Glucose in Healthy Adult Individuals. Int J Food Sci. 2019:4138534. doi:10.1155/2019/4138534

12. Ping H, Zhang G, Ren G. Antidiabetic effects of cinnamon oil in diabetic KK-Ay mice. Food Chem Toxicol. 2010;48:2344–2349. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2010.05.069

13. Kallel I, Hadrich B, Gargouri B, et al. Optimization of Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume) Essential Oil Extraction: Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Effects. Evidence-based Complement Altern Med. 2019:6498347. doi:10.1155/2019/6498347

14. Schmidt E, Jirovetz L, Buchbauer G, et al. Composition and antioxidant activities of the essential oil of cinnamon (cinnamomum zeylanicum blume) leaves from Sri Lanka. J Essent Oil-Bearing Plants. 2006;9(2):170-182. doi:10.1080/0972060X.2006.10643490

15. Samarasekera R, Kalhari KS, Weerasinghe IS. Mosquitocidal Activity of Leaf and Bark Essential Oils of Ceylon Cinnamomum zeylanicum. J Essent Oil Res. 2005;17:301–303. doi:10.1080/10412905.2005.9698909

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