Cinnamon, essential oil

Peppermint and cinnamon essential oils are particularly likely to persist on the skin of the fingers for a prolonged time. This needs to be considered by the aromatherapist when using them in massage blends. 

Figure 4. Chromatogram of a cinnamon essential oil. Column, 14m x 1mm I.D. solvent ethyl acetate heptane (5 95) efficiency = 510,000 theoretical plates. "Reproduced with permission from Ref. 53 Copyright 1979, Elsevier ...

The compound cinnamaldehyde, which comprises approximately 55 to 75% of cinnamon essential oil, can cause skin sensitization and irritation in sensitive persons. Reactions to cinnamaldehyde occur most commonly with prolonged oral exposure to products such as toothpaste, gum, or hard candies. Such cinnamon-flavored products have been found to be responsible for a number of cases of oral inflammation or lesions (Allen and Blozis 1988 Endo and Rees 2006 Lamey et al. 1990 Miller et al. 1992 ... 

A reduction in the number of embryos was observed in mice fed diets containing cinnamon essential oil (Domaracky et al. 2007). In rats administered the compound cinnamaldehyde (5 to 250 mg/kg daily) on days 7 to 17 of pregnancy, an increase in fetal malformations was observed (Mantovani et al. 1989). 

Numerous cases of topical contact dermatitis from cinnamon, cinnamon essential oil, and compounds isolated from cinnamon have been reported and confirmed by patch testing (Farkas 1981 Garcia-Abujeta et al. 2005 Goh and Ng 1988 Hartmann and Hunzelmann 2004 Kern 1960 Kirton... 

First and second degree burns were reported on the rear thigh of an 11-year-old male that had been carrying a vial of cinnamon essential oil in his back pants pocket. The vial broke, resulting in contact with a relatively large amount of cinnamon oil (Sparks 1985). 

Oral burning, abdominal pain, and a single case of nausea were reported in 32 adolescent males that had sucked on toothpicks, hard candy, or their fingers that had been dipped in cinnamon essential oil (Perry et al. 1990). 

Vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, and loss of consciousness were reported in a child who ingested 60 ml of cinnamon essential oil (Pilapil 1989). 

In mice orally administered a diet containing 0.25% cinnamon essential oil for 2 weeks, a decrease in the number of nuclei and an alteration of the distribution of embryos was observed at gestational day 4 (Domaracky et al. 2007). 

In the Ames test for mutagenicity and the Escherichia coli WP2 uvrA reversion test, no mutagenic activity of cinnamon essential oil was observed. The essential oil exhibited mutagenic activity in the Bacillus subtilis rec assay without S9 (Sekizawa and Shibamoto 1982). 

Cinnamon oil (C. zeylanicum J. Presl, Lauraceae) consists mainly of cinnamaldehyde (Jobling, 2000). It can be used to preserve dairy products, but it also proved to be successful in defeating several Salmonella bacteria on vegetables (Burt, 2004). Guynot et al. (2005) tested cinnamon essential oil on Eurotium sp., Aspergillus sp., and Penicillium sp. to preserve bakery products. 

Hosseini MH, Razavi SH, Mousavi MA. Antimicrobial, physical and mechanical properties of chitosan-based films incorporated with thyme, clove and cinnamon essential oils. J Food Process Preserv 2009 33 727-743. 

Essentia.1 Oils. Essential oils (qv) are extracted from the flower, leaf, bark, fmit peel, or root of a plant to produce flavors such as mint, lemon, orange, clove, cinnamon, and ginger. These volatile oils are removed from plants either via steam distillation, or using the cold press method, which avoids heat degradation. Additional processing is sometimes employed to remove the unwanted elements from the oils, such as the terpenes in citms oils which are vulnerable to oxidation (49,50). 

Essential oils are isolated from various plant parts, such as leaves (patchouH), fmit (mandarin), bark (cinnamon), root (ginger), grass (citroneUa), wood (amyris), heartwood (cedar), gum (myrrh oil), balsam (tolu balsam oil), berries (pimento), seeds (diU), flowers (rose), twigs and leaves (thuja oil), and buds (cloves). 

Clove bud oil is frequendy used iu perfumery for its natural sweet-spicy note but the greatest appHcation is iu the davor area iu a large variety of food products, including spice blends, seasoniugs, piddes, canned meats, baked goods, ready-made mixes, etc. As iu the case of cinnamon bark oil, its well-known antiseptic properties make it ideal for appHcation iu mouth washes, gargles, dentifrices, and pharmaceutical and dental preparations. Candy, particulady chewing gum, is also davored with clove bud oil iu combination with other essential oils. 

Pimento Berry Oil. The pimento or allspice tree, Pimenta dioca L. (syn. P. officinalis, Liadl.), a native of the West Indies and Central America, yields two essential oils of commercial importance pimento berry oil and pimenta leaf oil. The leaf oil finds some use ia perfumery for its resemblance to clove leaf and cinnamon leaf oils as a result of its high content of eugenol. Pimento berry oil is an item of commerce with extensive appHcation by the flavor industry ia food products such as meat sauces, sausages, and pickles, and moderate use ia perfumery, where it is used primarily as a modifier ia the modem spicy types of men s fragrances. The oil is steam-distilled from dried, cmshed, fully grown but unripe fmits. It is a pale yellow Hquid with a warm-spicy, sweet odor with a fresh, clean topnote, a tenacious, sweet-balsamic-spicy body, and a tea-like undertone. A comparative analysis of the headspace volatiles of ripe pimento berries and a commercial oil has been performed and differences are shown ia Table 52 (95). 

Phenyl-2-propenal [104-55-2], also referred to as cinnamaldehyde, is a pale yeUowHquid with a warm, sweet, spicy odor and pungent taste reminiscent of cinnamon. It is found naturally in the essential oils of Chinese cinnamon Cinnamomum cassia, Blume) (75—90%) and Ceylon cinnamon Cinnamomum lanicum, Nees) (60—75%) as the primary component in the steam distilled oils (27). It also occurs in many other essential oils at lower levels. 

Cinnamaldehyde has been efficiently isolated in high purity by fractional distillation from cassia and cinnamon bark essential oils. This material has been utili2ed in several manufacturing protocols (39—41) for the preparation of natural ben2aldehyde through a retro-aldol process. Since the late 1970s the demand for natural flavors has increased dramatically. This demand has led to a corresponding requirement for a more extensive line of readily available natural aroma chemicals for flavor creation. 

This sesquiterpene, or mixture of sesquiterpenes, is found to a considerable extent in nature, especially in clove oil, pimento oil, pepper oil, cinnamon oil, betel oil, copaiba oil, and numerous other essential oils. As isolated from these oils the sesquiterpene has the following characters —... 

Linalol is found very widely distributed in essential oils. It forms the principal constituent, in the free state, of oil of linaloe, and the chief odorous constituent, in the form of esters, in bergamot and lavender oils. It is also found in ylang-ylang, rose, champaca leaf, cinnamon, petit-grain, spike, geranium, lemon, spearmint, and numerous. other essential oils. 

Eugenol, Cj5Hi202, is the characteristic constituent of the oUs of cloves, cinnamon leaf, bay and pimento, and is also found in numerous other essential oils. It is a liquid of powerful clove odour, having the following characters —... 

Aldehydes occur naturally in essential oils and contribute to the flavors of fruits and the odors of plants. Benzaldehyde, C6H5CHO (8), contributes to the characteristic aroma of cherries and almonds. Cinnamaldehvde (9) is found in cinnamon, and vanilla extract contains vanillin (10), which is present in oil of vanilla. Ketones can also be fragrant. For example, carvone (Section 18.1) is the essential oil of spearmint. 

Eugenol is a natural product available from a variety of essential oils (cinnamon-tree or pimentos leaves). Its isomerization (Eq. 49) into isoeugenol, the starting material for synthetic vanillin, is rather difficult and proceeds in modest yields under relatively harsh conditions. It can, however, be very efficiently prepared by use of 2.2 molar equivalents of base and catalytic (5 %) amounts of Aliquat in the absence of solvent. 

C10H12O2, Mr 164.20, pi.3kPa 121 °C, df 1.0652, ng 1.5409, is the main component of several essential oils clove leaf oil and cinnamon leaf oil may contain >90%. Eugenol occurs in small amounts in many other essential oils. It is a colorless to slightly yellow liquid with a spicy, clove odor. 

Production. Since sufficient eugenol can be isolated from cheap essential oils, synthesis is not industrially important. Eugenol is still preferentially isolated from clove leaf and cinnamon leaf oil (e.g., by extraction with sodium hydroxide solution). Nonphenolic materials are then removed by steam distillation. After the alkaline solution is acidified at low temperature, pure eugenol is obtained by distillation. 

Coumarin has been isolated from legumes, orchids, grasses and citrus fruits (Perone, 1972). It is found at particularly high levels in some essential oils, such as cinnamon leaf and bark oil, cassia leaf oil and lavender oil (Lake, 1999). 

Coumarin is a natural product found at high levels in some essential oils, particularly ciimamon leaf oil (40 600 ppm (mg/kg)), ciimamon bark oil (7000 ppm), other types of cinnamon (900 ppm), cassia leaf oil (17 000-87 300 ppm), peppermint oil (20 ppm), lavender oil, woodruff and sweet clover as well as in green tea (0.2-1.7 ppm), fruits such as bilberry and cloudberry and other foods such as chicory root (Boisde Meuly, 1993 TNO, 1996 Lake, 1999). It is also found in Mexican vanilla extracts (Sullivan, 1981 Maries etal, 1987). 

Coumarin is a natural product occurring in the essential oils of a large number of plants, such as cinnamon, cassia, lavender and woodruff. It is used for its fragrance in many personal care products (perfumes, deodorants, soaps) and in tobacco, in household and industrial products to mask unpleasant odours and, in some countries, as a flavouring agent in food and beverages. It has also been used to treat several medical conditions. Exposure to coumarin may occur from its production, its natural presence in many plants and essential oils, and its several industrial, medical and consumer uses. 

Phenylpropanoids are widespread in higher plants, especially in the plants that produce essential oils, e.g. plants of the families, Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, Lauraceae, Myrtaceae and Rutaceae. For example, Tolu balsam (Myroxylon balsamum, family Fabaceae) yields a high concentration of cinnamic acid esters, cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum, family Lauraceae) produces cinnamaldehyde, fennel (Foeniculum vulgare, family Apiaceae) is a good... 

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