The genus Cinnamomum

Table 7.4 The yield and characteristic of Indonesian cassia oil
Specification
Indonesian Cassia (Indonesian Cinnamon) 195
Yield of oil (%) – 1.32
Specific gravity (25 °C) – 0.9593
Refractive index (25 °C) – 1.5215
Optical rotation – 19°, 5
Solubility in ethanol – Solution in 1:1 alcohol
Aldehyde (total %) – 27.15
Cinnamaldehyde – –
Table 7.5 Composition of bark and leaf oils of C. burmannii
Bark component % Leaf component %
1,8-Cineole 51.4 1,8-Cineole 28.5
-Terpineol 12.5 Borneol 16.5
Camphor 9.0 -Terpineol 6.4
Terpinen-4-ol 8.5 para-Cymene 6.1
Borneol 1.8 Spathulenol 5.8
-Pinene 1.6 Terpinen-4-ol 4.1
-Caryophyllene 1.6 Bornyl acetate 3.1
para-Cymene 1.0 -Caryophyllene 2.9
-Eudesmol 0.5 -Pinene 1.9
Camphene 0.5 -Pinene 1.7
Elemol 0.4 Cinnamyl acetate 1.5
Myristicin 0.4 Myristicin 1.2
-Pinene 0.4 Elemol 0.6
-Humulene 0.3 -Humulene 0.4
Bornylacetate 0.1 Linalool 0.4
Camphene 0.2
-Eudesmol 0.1
Source: Xiao-duo et al., 1991.
Moestafa and Badeges (1986) studied the distillation of cassia cinnamon using the
cohobation method and tried to identify the components. They reported that 70°C is the
optimum temperature for distillation and the yields of oil when trapped at 25°C, 70°C
and 85°C, were 0.57%, 1.62% and 0.31% respectively. They also found that the major
components of bark oil are cinnamic aldehyde and eugenol. Chen et al. (1997) analysed
C. burmannii f. heyneanum leaves, which yielded 0.54–0.85% oil on steam distillation.
The oil contained 96.28–99.7% safrole, and is thus an excellent source of safrole.
Bark and leaf oils of Indonesian cassia have little commercial significance, as the
entire cassia oil production for commerce is derived almost entirely from Chinese cassia
and cinnamon oil from Ceylon cinnamon.
Other Aspects: Cassia Vera for Soil Conservation
Research during the past five years on cassia vera at locations 240 m above sea level
which receive an average rainfall of 370 mm/month have indicated a reduction in soil