wwwcinnamon

INFORMATION[CASSIAANDCINNAMON]11.
0INTRODUCTION.
Cassiaisbotanically-knownasCinnamomumcassiablume,Cinnamomumburmannii,occidentalis,cassiatora,cassiaobtusifoliaorCinnamomumcassia,CinnamomumCassia(nees)exblume,Cinnamomumaromaticum(nees)syn,Cinnamomumburmannii(C.
G.
Nees)blumeandCinnamumumloureininees.
CassiaisamemberofthesamefamilyasCinnamonreferredtoas"Chinesecinnamon","Javacinnamon","Padangcassia.
"or"Saigoncinnamon,".
Howevercassiaandcinnamon(dalchini)donothaveincommonistheircoumarincontent.
Theterm"cassia"neverreferstoCeyloncinnamon.
Whilemostsimplyreferredtoas"cassia".
Althoughrelated,cinnamonandcassiaarenotobtainedfromthesameplant.
Theyshouldbetreatedasseparatefoods,bothfromanutritionalandahealthstandpoint.
Scientifically,thereisonlyonetruecinnamon,whichismostcommonlycalled"Ceyloncinnamon,"andcomesfromtheplantCinnamomumzeylanicum.
Cassiaisoftenmisnamedandmistakenascinnamonandmarketedtotheconsumersthroughretailoutlets.
Sincethepriceofcassiaisfarbelowthatofcinnamon,thetradersmisuseandencashtheopportunityfortheirbenefitbymis-declarationoftheproduct.
1.
1.
Coumarin.
Thesearenaturallyoccurringplantcomponentspresentincassiaitisachemicalcompoundspecificallyfrombenzopyrenefamily.
WhilethelevelofnaturallyoccurringcoumarinsinCeyloncinnamonappearstobeverysmallandlowerthantheamountthatcouldcausehealthrisks,thelevelofnaturallyoccurringcoumarinsinthecassiaappearstobehigherandmayposearisktosomeindividualsifconsumedinsubstantialamountsonaregularbasis.
Thechemicalcompositionofcinnamonandcassiaisdifferent.
Incontrasttocassia,Ceyloncinnamoncontainseugenolandbenzyl-benzoatebutno(atmosttraces)ofcoumarin.
Thecoumarinlevelinthebarkofcassiavariesconsiderably.
Theydependconsiderablyonrespectivesub-speciesorclimaticconditions.
FoodSafetyandStandards(FoodProductstandardsandFoodAdditives)Regulation,2011distinguishbetweencassiaandcinnamonandprescribesstandardsforCinnamon(Dalchini)whichmeanstheinnerbarkoftrunksorbranchesofCinnamomumZeylanciumBlume,Cassia(taj)whichmeansthebarkoftreesofCinnamomumCassia(nees)exblume,Cinnamomumaromaticum(nees)syn,CinnamomumburmanniiINFORMATION[CASSIAANDCINNAMON]2(C.
G.
Nees)blumeandCinnamumumloureininees,whereintheedibleportionofthetreeisbark.
Thestandardshavebeenlaidinregulation2.
9.
4(1),2.
9.
5(1)ofwhichcanbereferredonFSSAIofficialwebsitewww.
fssai.
gov.
in.
2.
0.
DifferencebetweenCinnamon(Dalchini)andCassia(Taj).
Cassiavarietieshaveastronger,moreintenseandoftenhotterflavorthanCeyloncinnamonduetoanincreasedpercentageofcinnamaldehyde,upto5-6%byweight.
Cassiaalsohasasignificantamountoftheblood-thinningphytochemicalcoumarin.
Cinnamonandcassiasticks,however,haveobviousvisualmarkerswhichmakethemeasytoidentify:ParameterTrueCinnamonCassiaTasteRealorTrueCinnamonissweetanddelicateCinnamonCassiaisstrongtopepperyColourRealCinnamonisalightbrown/tancolor.
CinnamonCassiaisareddishbrowntodarkbrown.
LookRealCinnamonstickscurlfromonesideonlyandrolluplikeanewspaper.
RealcinnamonfromCeylon(Cinnamomumzelanicum)isfilledlikeacigar(Fig1).
CinnamonCassiabarkisthickerbecauseitsouterlayerisstrippedoff.
Forthatreason,Cassiastickscurlinwardfrombothsidestowardthecenterastheydry.
Cassiahasahollowtube(Fig1).
FeelRealCeylonCinnamonbarkissmooth.
ThesurfaceofCassiaisroughanduneven.
GrowninIndia,Srilanka.
China,Vietnam,Indonesia.
CoumarinContentlowHighINFORMATION[CASSIAANDCINNAMON]3Fig1.
CinnamonandCassia.
INFORMATION[CASSIAANDCINNAMON]42.
1.
Testtodifferentiatebetweenpowderedcinnamon(dalchini)/cassia(taj).
Itisdifficulttotellpowderedcinnamonfrompowderedcassiabut:"Whenpowderedbarkistreatedwithtinctureofiodine(atestforstarch),littleeffectisvisibleinthecaseofpurecinnamonofgoodquality,butwhencassiaispresent,adeep-bluetintisproduced,theintensityofthecolorationdependingontheproportionofcassia".
3.
0.
IlleffectsofCassia.
Coumarinisachemicalcompound(specifically,abenzopyrone)foundinmanyplants,particularlyincassia(CannamomumCassia(Nees)exBlume.
Coumarinismoderatelytoxictotheliverandkidneys,withanLD50of275mg/kg.
Theyhavestronganticoagulantpropertiesbecauseourbloodneedstomaintainitsabilitytocoagulateintimesofinjury,excessiveintakeofcoumarinsoveraprolongedperiodoftimecanposehealthrisks.
AccordingtotheGermanFederalInstituteforRiskAssessment,1kgofCassiapowdercontainsapproximately2100to4400mgofcoumarin.
Thismeans1teaspoonofcassiacinnamonpowdercontains5.
8to12.
1mgofcoumarin.
SpeciesofCassialikeCassiaoccidentalis,cassiatoraorcassiaobtusifoliaaredifferentfromthecinnamonastheirbarkdonotcontaintheflavouringcompound,cinnamaldehydeandinfactthesegiveobnoxioussmellandhaveseverehealtheffects.
Accordingtoreportrepetitiveandprolongedingestionofahealthdrinkmadefromherbofcassiagenusresultedinseverehepatotoxicityinadults.
Anotherstudymentions,inhuman'singestionsofcassiaoccidentaliscancauseseverepurging.
Cassiatoxicitycausesyndromeofacutehepato-myo-encephalopathy.
TheGermanFederalInstituteforRiskAssessmenthasestablishedatolerabledailyintakeof0.
1mgcoumarinperkgbodyweight.
Theexposurecalculationrevealedthatinworstcasescenariochildrenwhoeatlotofcassia(cinnamon)clearlyexceededtheTDIvalueforcoumarinestablishedbyEFSA.
INFORMATION[CASSIAANDCINNAMON]5FAQs.
1.
WhatiscoumarinandwheredoesitoccurCoumarinisanaturalflavoringwhichisfoundinmanyplants.
Itoccursinhigherconcentrationsintypesofcinnamongroupedtogetherunderthename"cassiacinnamon".
2.
WhycinnamonisadulteratedwithcassiaCassiaisusuallycheaperincostthancinnamonandhenceisusedforadulteratingcinnamon.
Itisoftenmislabelledandsoldascinnamon.
3.
HowmuchcoumarindoescinnamoncontainAroughdistinctioncanbemadebetweentwotypesofcinnamon.
Ceyloncinnamononlycontainslowlevelsofcoumarinwhicharesafe.
Bycontrast,cassiacinnamoncontainshighlevelsofcoumarinandlargeamountsofthisshouldnotbeconsumed.
4.
HowcanconsumersdistinguishbetweenCeyloncinnamonandcassiaConsumerscandistinguishbetweenCeyloncinnamonandcassia.
Inthecaseofcassiaarelativelythicklayerofthebarkhasbeenrolledintoastickhowever,thecross-sectionofaCeyloncinnamonsticklooksmorelikeacigarette–severalthinlayersofbarkhavebeenrolledupintoacinnamonstickresultinginacomparativelycompactcross-section.
Theoriginofthecinnamonisnotnormallydeclaredonthepackaging;sometimesfalseinformationhasbeensuppliedinthepast.
Formoredetailspleaserefertosection2.
0differencebetweencassiaandcinnamonofthisdocument.
5.
CantoomuchcoumarindamagehealthItiscommonknowledgethatrelativelylowdosesofcoumarincauseliverdamageinasmallgroupofparticularlysensitiveindividualsifconsumedoverafewmonths.
Inminorcasesthisleadstoanelevationofliverenzymesinblood,inseverecasestoinflammationoftheliverwhichmanifestsasjaundice.
Theexactmechanismofactionisnotknownbuttheeffectsarereversible.
INFORMATION[CASSIAANDCINNAMON]6References:1.
IndianCouncilofMedicalResearch.
2.
IndianInstituteofToxicologicalResearch,Lucknow3.
BFRHealthAssesmentNo.
043/2006,16June2006.
4.
CurrentPharmaceuticalDesign,2004.
5.
IndianJournalonMedicalResearch130,July2009.
6.
AnalystChimActa.
1995302:147-162.