A potential low-coumarin cinnamon substitute: Cinnamomum osmophloeum leaves

Abstract

The essential oils from leaves of Taiwan's indigenous cinnamon (Cinnamomum osmophloeum ct. cinnamaldehyde) have similar constituents as compared to that from commercial bark cinnamons. This indigenous cinnamon has been proven to have excellent bioactivities. To understand whether this indigenous cinnamon contains a high level of the hepatotoxic compound, coumarin, as often seen in Cassia cinnamons, current research focused on determining the coumarin content in this indigenous cinnamon and screening the low-coumarin clones. The results demonstrated that the coumarin contents in all tested indigenous cinnamon clones were much lower than that found in Cassia cinnamons. In addition, this indigenous cinnamon contains about 80% (w/w) of cinnamaldehyde and 0.4-2.7% (w/w) of eugenol in its leaf essential oils. This combination could provide this indigenous cinnamon a better shelf life compared to that of regular commercial cinnamons. These results suggested that leaves of this indigenous cinnamon could be a potential resource for a safer cinnamon substitute.