Role of turmeric and cinnamon spices in digestive, metabolic, and immune systems

Cinnamon: an overview

Cinnamon is a bark that is reddish or yellowish brown in color with pleasant aroma. It grows on topical trees and has long been regarded as a spice. The ancient Egyptians employed it in mummification, witchery, and making perfumes and malabathrum oil. Cinnamon is also used by the Chinese to preserve the bodies of the deceased (Cheng 1960). Cinnamon also was reported to cure various ailments during the Middle Ages, including coughs and indigestion (Sindney, 1985).

Cinnamon (genus Cinnamomum) belongs to the family Lauraceae and is one of the spices that contains many structurally diverse phytochemical compounds (Udayaprakash et al., 2015). The most common species are Cinnamomum verum (also known as Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Ceylon cinnamon, or real cinnamon) and Cinnamomum cassia (also known as Cassia cinnamon or Chinese cinnamon), Cinnamomum burmannii (Java or Indonesian cinnamon), and Cinnamomum loureiroi (Vietnamese or Saigon cinnamon) (Killday et al., 2011). They are commercially significant due to wide range of applications in the food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical sectors. Nonetheless, the genus Cinnamomum comprises over 250 species, each having its own genotype and phenotype (Tung et Al., 2008).

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/cinnamon