The genus Cinnamomum

Chinese Cassia
Chinese cassia – as spice
End Uses of Cinnamon and Cassia 323
Bark of Chinese cassia resembles that of cinnamon in appearance but it has a more
powerful aroma. The bark powder is reddish brown in colour, unlike cinnamon
powder, which is tan. The general composition of Chinese cassia is similar to that
of cinnamon, but the mucilage content of various plant parts is higher in cassia.
Cinnamaldehyde is the major component (70–95%) of cassia bark.
Since ancient times, Chinese cassia has been used as a spice, due to its pleasant aroma
and taste. The major uses of cassia bark, both in whole and ground forms, are for
culinary purposes and for processed foods. It is an essential spice in Chinese and other
cuisines in South-East Asian countries. Cassia bark is used to flavour all kinds of meat
dishes, in which it is ground and usually mixed with other spices. The ground spice is
used in the flavouring of bakery products, sauces, pickles, puddings, curry powders,
beverages and confectionery. It is ideal for spiced cakes, pies, sticky buns, pumpkin
bread, cheese cake and apple strudel. It can even be sprinkled on top of French toast,
oatmeal or hot cocoa. Commercial cassia oil is obtained by steam distillation of leaves,
leaf stalks and twigs. It is widely used to flavour baked foods, confectionery, meat,
sauces, pickles, soft drinks and liqueurs.
Dried unripe fruits of C. cassia are known as cassia buds, which resemble small cloves
in appearance. They have an aroma and flavour similar to that of cinnamon bark and
contain about 2% essential oil which in turn contains about 80% cinnamaldehyde. The
buds possess properties similar to those of the bark and were formerly used widely in
Europe as a spice for preparing a spiced wine called Hippocras. Cassia buds are usually
used in savoury dishes rather than in sweets. The dried cassia buds are used in the East
as a spice to flavour pickles, curries, spicy meat dishes, confectionary, chocolates and
in making pot pourri.
Cassia oleoresin has similar applications as those of the ground spice in the flavouring
of processed foods.
Cassia – in medicine*
Dried bark and twigs of cassia are not only important as spices but are also used as an
important crude drug in oriental medicine. Medicinal use of cassia was first mentioned
by Tao Hunkin (AD 451–536). The therapeutic effect is regarded as being due to
tannins present in its bark (Yazaki and Okuda, 1990). Tannins of cassia were recorded
to have both antiviral and cytotoxic activity. Dried stem bark of cassia is used to treat
inflammation, headaches and pyrexia (Kanari et al., 1989), diarrhoea, nausea and
flatulence and as a tonic. In Yemenite folk medicine, cassia is an ingredient of the compounds
used against headache and melancholy (Asolkar et al., 1994). It is also used in
the traditional medicines of Tibet and folk medicine in Mongolia and the Tran-Baikal
region. Cassia also forms one of the components of Japanese herbal medicines such as
“TJ 960”, which is recommended for hippocampal neuron damage (Sugaya et al., 1991).
Chinese herbal medicine formulations contain the bark of cassia and are used to treat
blood hyperviscosity, hyperlipemia, hypercoagulability (Toda et al., 1989), gynaecological
* See also Chapter 6 on Chinese cassia for more information.