The genus Cinnamomum

Indonesian Cassia (Indonesian Cinnamon) 189
Table 7.3 Production of stem bark (SB), branch bark (BB) and twig bark (TB) in eight selected
groups of Indonesian cassia
No. Group Production of quill kg/plant
SB BB TB
1 BG-1 1.67 0.64 0.39
2 BG-2 1.78 1.05 0.57
3 BG-3 2.92 1.04 0.98
4 BG-4 2.21 0.73 0.75
5 BG-5 4.57 1.12 1.53
6 BG-6 5.75 1.16 1.65
7 BG-7 6.97 1.73 2.41
8 BG-8 10.83 3.27 3.63
HSD 5% 5.10 1.10 1.33
6.93 1.49 1.80
Source: Djisbar, 1994.
The mean number of cinnamon trees per farm unit is 2443 with a mean stand age of
eight years. The government has introduced a cinnamon protection programme for
protecting the crop and its sustainable exploitation.
Little crop improvement work has been developed for this important crop.
Preliminary studies on collection and evaluation were carried out at the Bukit Gompong
Research Station, west Sumatera (Djisbar, 1994). High variability was observed for
stem diameter and eight groups of trees have since been identified based on their stem
diameter (Table 7.3) but their oil content remained almost the same.
Oil cells in the leaves are always present in both the palisade and the spongy
parenchyma. They are oblong-ovoid in the palisade parenchyma and more or less globular
in spongy parenchyma (Bakker et al., 1992). The oil content from the leaves is
1.12% (Rusli and Abdullah, 1988), less than that from the stem’s bark (3.45%) and
than from the branch bark (2.38%) (Rusli et al., 1990).
Harvesting and Post-Harvest Handling
The periodical thinning of trees is often undertaken. The first thinning is usually in the
third year and it produces some inferior bark. The first harvesting by thinning (or selective
felling) is done in the fifth year when bark of fair to average quality is obtained.
Thereafter some selective harvesting is done annually and continues for about 15 years.
Trees are harvested at the beginning of the rainy season when the bark can be peeled
easily. The trunk is first scraped with a blunt knife to remove moss, lichens and outer
cork tissue. The bark is harvested from the lower part of the trunk in strips about 1 m
in length and 7.5–10 cm wide (Fig. 7.2). The tree is then felled leaving a stump of
20–30 cm, and the bark is stripped from the upper part of the trunk and larger branches.
The stump then regenerates and one or two strong shoots are allowed to develop into
new stems (Purseglove et al., 1981). Thus a field will be continuously harvested for
a considerable period of time. Both peel and cut methods are used for the extraction of
bark, the former gives higher yield and better quality bark. Bark is also separated by
beating the harvested stem with a mallet (Fig. 7.3).