The genus Cinnamomum

180 Nguyen Kim Dao
a sweet aftertaste, and is good for inducing perspiration and promoting circulation. It
is prescribed as a febrifuge for colds, and to relieve pain in the joints and abdomen (Chi,
1961). In older works, cassia cinnamon is indicated as a stomachic astringent, a tonic
stimulant (Rei, 1946), and a salivative and remedial for post-partum disorders (Stuart,
1911). Rei (1946) says that it is a general stimulant, which improves the circulation
and respiration and most of the secretions and peristaltic movements of the digestive
tract. The twigs are used as an emmenagogue and a diaphoretic. In Indo-China, cassia
is one of many ingredients in remedies with antidiarrhoeic, antibilious and antifebrile
properties and it is used to treat diarrhoea, jaundice and chronic malaria with
splenomegaly. Cassia bark oils are also used in soaps and perfumes. Cassia leaf oil
(usually referred to as cassia oil) is obtained by distilling twigs and leaves and is used
for similar purpose as cassia bark oils in perfumery and flavouring, but it is of special
importance in cola-type drinks (Dao et al., 1999). Its timber is also useful.
In Chinese Materia Medica (Chi, 1961) dried cassia bark, (Rou-gui), has “pungent and
sweet tastes and a hot property acting on the kidney, spleen, heart and liver channels”.
It has the functions of:
1. supplementing the body fire, reinforcing Yang and leading the fire back to the kidney;
it is used in impotence, frigidity, feeling of coldness and pain in the loin and
knees, dyspnea in kidney, deficiency syndrome, dizziness, inflammation of the eyes
and sore throat due to Yang deficiency;
2. dispelling cold, relieving pain, it is used in precordial and abdominal pain with
cold sensation; and,
3. warming and cleaning the channels, it is used in amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea.
Gui zhi, (dried twig of cassia cinnamon) is collected in spring and summer, freed from
leaves and then dried in the sun or in the shade. This crude drug is mainly produced in
the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi in China. The decoction of the drug (containing
cinnamaldehyde or sodium cinnamate) can reduce the normal body temperature
of mice and artificial fever in rabbits. Gui zhi has pungent and sweet tastes and a warm
property, which acts on the lung, heart and urinary bladder channels. In Chinese medicine
Gui zhi is indicated as having the following uses and functions (Loi, 1996):
1. inducing perspiration and dispelling pathogenic factors from the exterior of the
body, it is used in the common cold due to wind, cold infection manifested by
headache, fever and aversion to cold;
2. warming the channels to relieve pain, used in arthralgia due to wind-cold dampness
manifested by aching joints of the shoulders and limbs; and,
3. reinforcing Yang to promote the flow of Qi, it is used in irregular menstruation,
amenorrheal abdominal pain and mass in the abdomen due to blood cold in
women, and vague pain in the epigastric region which can be ameliorated by
warming and pressing.
Gui zhi is used as an analgesic and antipyretic against the common cold, myalgia
orthralgia and amenorrhea with abdominal cramp. Together with Shoayao (Radix paeoniae)
and Chai Hu (Radix bupleuri) it has been used in the treatment of epilepsy.
In Vietnam, cassia bark is used widely. Bark is used as a spice and as a medicine and
it is among the 114 recipes “Thuong han luan” of Truong Trong Canh. In fact barks from