Chemical composition and activity of the essential oil from 25 Cinnamomum species. A mini- review of the literature
February 13, 2025
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| Article Title: | Chemical composition and activity of the essential oil from 25 Cinnamomum species. A mini- review of the literature |
| Authors: | Mureșan M.L., Chișe E. |
| Affiliation: | Lucian Blaga” University, Faculty of Medicine, 2A Lucian Blaga Street, 550169, Sibiu, Romania Vasile Goldiș” Western University of Arad, Faculty of Pharmacy, 86 L. Rebreanu Street, 310414, Arad, Romania |
| Abstract: | The Cinnamomum genus, found in different tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, has proven over the years its economic importance in several areas, such as the food ( one of the finest spices), agronomical, pharmaceutical, and perfumery industries. Cinnamomum zeylanicum is the most studied species and thus used for its properties as a spice but also in therapy, through its major compounds, cinnamaldehyde, linalool, and eugenol. Because of the lower price, Cinnamomum cassia is increasingly replacing Cinnamomum zeylanicum in the global market, despite the warning of leading health agencies about its negative impact on health due to the high content of coumarin, a carcinogenic and hepatotoxic compound. The need to identify active and therapeutic important compounds in the composition of other species of Cinnamomum, involving lower costs and less toxic by a low concentration or absence of coumarin, is big and decisive for the consumers’ health. The aim of this review is to emphasize the major compounds of the essential oil extracted from 25 Cinnamomum species, harvested from several regions of Asia, with special regard to the presence of coumarin, but also on the yield of the extracted essential oil and its activities. PubMed and Google Scholar are used as the search engine in this research and the latest studies are considered. The results obtained showed that the majority of compounds identified in the leaves of the species harvested in the Asian region belong to the mono-, respectively to the sesquiterpenoids class and that of aldehydes. The toxic compound, coumarin, has been identified in increased concentrations only in C. cassia (China) and C. burmannii (Indonesia), in the other species either it was absent, or it was in very low concentration. This study and its results may represent a base for other research on chemical composition, but also on therapeutic activities of Cinnamomum species. |
| Keywords: | Cinnamomum species, essential oil, chemical composition, coumarin. |
| *Correspondence: | Mureșan Maria Lucia, “Lucian Blaga” University, Faculty of Medicine, 2A Lucian Blaga Street, 550169, Sibiu, Romania, email: maria.muresan@ulbsibiu.ro |
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