The genus Cinnamomum

Other Useful Species of Cinnamomum 353
acrid. The local people use it as a spice, and also for flavouring tobacco. The bark
contains a volatile oil having a pungent aromatic taste, and contains eugenol, cineol and
terpenes. It also contains an alkaloid Canellin. The bark is a traditional medicine, used
in curing stomach pain and indigestion. Along with aloes it is used as a purgative
(Grieve and Leyel, 1931).
Conclusion
Many species of Cinnamomum, in addition to those that are important spices (C. verum,
C. cassia, C. burmannii, C. tamala), are sources of essential oil and are economically
useful. Information on the chemical composition of only a few species is available.
Many species occurring in the South-East Asian regions have been investigated to
some extent, while little information is available on species occurring in other regions.
The existence of many species is under severe threat, and some may even be extinct.
A typical case is that of C. heynianum Nees, reported to be from the Western Ghat
region, which is known only from the single original type collection (Kostermans,
1983). C. nicolsonianum, a new species described by Manilal and Shylaja (1986), could
not be located subsequently, and may be on the verge of extinction. Just like any other
forest taxa, the severe threat on forestland – encroachment, urbanisation, indiscriminate
exploitation – are leading to the decline of the species population. In the Western Ghat
regions of Kerala for example, the bark of wild cinnamon trees was extracted indiscriminately
for use as a base material in agarbatti (incense stick) manufacturing which
has led to a sharp decline of cinnamon trees. This practice was going on for many
decades though in the recent past this has been checked to some extent. Species such as
C. heynianum and C. nicolsonianum are so rare that special efforts are needed for locating
them and for their conservation.
Genus Cinnamomum also plays an important role in the search for new sources of
aroma chemicals. This is a very important area in which the world perfume industry is
interested. Recently C. burmannii f. heyneanum (C. heyneanum, Li-Xi Wen and Bi-Qiang,
1997) has gained importance as a valuable source of safrole and this species is now being
considered for commercial exploitation. C. tenuipilis is another source of the valuable
chemical linalool. Further investigations on other species may lead to the discovery of
more species having unique flavour characteristics and compounds that can be commercially
exploited.
References
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(Sugandha Kokila). J. Essential Oil Res., 4, 151–159.
Anandakumar, A., Balasubramanian, M. and Muralidharan, R. (1986) Nagakesara – a comparative
pharmacognosy. Ancient Science of Life, 5, 263–268.
Anonymous (1950) The Wealth of India, Raw materials, Vol. II, CSIR, New Delhi, pp. 173–183.
Baruah, A., Nath, S.C., Hazarika, A.K. and Sarma, T.C. (1997) Essential oils of leaf, stem bark
and panicle of Cinnamomum begolghota (Buch-Ham) Sweet. J. Essent. Oil Res., 9, 243–245.
Baruah, A. and Nath, S.C. (1998) Diversity of Cinnamomum species in north-east India:
a micromorphological study with emphasis to venation pattern. In A.K. Goel, V.K. Jain and
A.K. Nayak (eds) Modern Trends in Biodiversity, Jaishree Prakashan, Muzzafarnagar,
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