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Ceylon Cinnamon

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Scientific Name:

  • Cinnamomum Zeylanicum

Family Name:

  • Lauraceae

Other Names:

  • True cinnamon (Cinnamomum Verum)
  • Soft cinnamon
  • Sri Lankan cinnamon
  • Kurundu (Sri Lankan local name)
  • Darchini (In Persian Indigenous medicine / Yunani medicine)

(Cassia cinnamon is not another name for Ceylon cinnamon)

Cinnamon Story

Ceylon Cinnamon is native and indigenous to Sri Lanka and it has a fascinating history for over 5000 years. Ceylon being a name used to introduce Sri Lanka by British when the country was a British Colony. True cinnamon is said to have originated in Central Hills of Sri Lanka and spread within the island, naturally up to 18th century A.D. The natural soothing aroma was considered the national identity of Sri Lanka for thousands of years. This crop had been the main reason to make Sri Lanka a sustainably prosperous island up to 18th century. Though it was spread around the country in history, now it is limited to Southern Sri Lanka and some isolated areas in the country. With the revelations of research reports by European, American and many other world famous institutions, Ceylon Cinnamon market is expanding and cultivation is spreading at a high rate throughout the country.

Cinnamon is in the form of quills of various grades, powder, chips, flakes, leaf oil, bark oil and many other ways mixed with bee-honey, tea, cigarettes, liquor, capsules and various other forms. Among quills, Alba grade is the highest grade and most expensive. C5 special, C5, C4, M grades and H grades are also available in the market. C4 is the general export quality of the product.

Mexico, Peru, USA, some South American countries, Some European countries and Middle East are the most popular export markets. With the research report revelations, many other countries have come forward to import Ceylon Cinnamon.

Herbal, Medical, Or Pharmaceutical Facts

Ceylon Cinnamon, being an herb almost equally valued as same as Gold and Ivory in ancient times, comes to the world only from the paradise island, Sri Lanka. It has been a panacea for ancient and modern world too. Modern scientific researches by world famous institutions have proved the ancient facts that Ceylon cinnamon is Good for controlling many diseases: Diabetes, Alzimer, Parkinson, Cold, Candida Yeast Infections, Stomach Bug/Flu, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Arthritis/Osteoporosis, Toenail Fungus, Lowering LDL cholesterol & triglycerides, Tooth Decay and Gum Disease, skin diseases, Sore Throat, Cough, PMS and many more. Researches by some other institutions say that Ceylon Cinnamon (not any other cinnamon variety) is good for CoViD19, SARS, AIDS and Cancer in addition to many others including blood circulation issues, Respiratory system issues, Nerves system issues, digestive system issues, Cardio vascular diseases, etc.
Further Ceylon Cinnamon serves as a virus fighter, an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-microbial agent, Depression reducer, Mood enhancer, Insect repellent, massage therapy agent, Anti-oxidant, blood-thinner, weight-loss agent, blood

purifier, respiratory system improver, memory developer, Odour Neutralizer, Food preservative, air-freshener and an aroma spreader.

Hundreds of institutions world over including European countries, American countries, Asians including Sri Lankans have conducted researches on same and proved supremacy of this Sri Lankan crop, in terms of medical value of same.

Historical Facts

Ceylon Cinnamon has a recorded history of over 5000 years and it has been found in Chinese records date back to 2800 BC. Holy Bible mentions about Cinnamon (Old Testament- According to James Emerson Tennent, Galle was said to be the ancient city of Tarshish where King Solomon drew ivory, peacocks and others. Cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka as early as 1400 BC and as the root of the word itself is Hebrew, Galle may have been the entrepôt for the spice.), Ancient Rome imported Cinnamon, a quantum equal to one year’s consumption of the city, on a single day, at the time the Roman Emperor Niro’s wife’s death for cremation. Ancient Egyptians have used Cinnamon to mummify dead bodies.
Europeans in ancient times used Cinnamon to keep their meat with quality standards. After the invasion of Constantinople in 1453 A.D Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire, Europeans lost their supply of commodities like cinnamon, mainly and such quest for spices led them to explore the world, initiating the modern world.

During Medieval age Sri Lanka’s Cinnamon trade was controlled mainly by Arab traders who named Sri Lanka as Serendib or Persians as Serendip (the word Serendipity was created in English language with this name). In such period Arabs wanted to keep the source of cinnamon a secret to maintain their monopoly on such trade. They created a story to keep such secret i.e. “Cinnamon is made by some big birds in a far Eastern country. Their nests are on top of tall trees where humans cannot reach. Such birds are fond of eating meat. We keep a piece of meat at the ground near the root of the tree. The birds take it and keep it on the nest. Then a cinnamon peace is fallen due to excess weight of the meat. We pick it and sell in Europe”

Recently, some containers with cinnamon aroma were found in Israel. It was confirmed that the containers were as old as 3000 years.

In 16th Century Europeans (initially Portuguese) came to Sri Lanka, mainly in search of Cinnamon. They conquered coastal belt of Sri Lanka and took the leadership of world cinnamon trade. Portuguese did not do much of change to the cinnamon industry.

However, Dutch who conquered coastal areas of Sri Lanka did a lot on cinnamon industry. They declared a proclamation on cinnamon on 08th October 1745. Dutch Government declared Capital punishment for anyone who destroys a cultivated cinnamon root. On 14th February 1766 the Dutch Governor Wilhelm Falk signed the Batticaloa Treaty also known as Hanguranketha Treaty with the upcountry king Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe where the king allowed Dutch to harvest cinnamon from jungles, as one of the conditions in the treaty. However, for the first time in Sri Lanka, after about 100 years of Dutch Governance cinnamon was started grown in an estate, firstly in Maradana area as Tuin (Plain).

During British period, Cinnamon industry commenced deterioration. Introduction of duplicate cinnamon, cassia to the European market in a cheaper price was one reason. However, currently it has been scientifically proven that cassia is not a healthy alternative. Further, the British wanted to introduce other plantations like coffee, tea and some other, destroying cinnamon industry due to multiple reasons.

he island nation, Sri Lanka had been the hub and prominent cradle for spice trade in the world and Cinnamon had been the most prominent of all spices. However, the cinnamon culture Sri Lanka had in ancient times has now been deteriorated to a great extent or lost almost completely.

Cinnamon had been used as a valuable gift exchanged among Kings, Queens and Emperors as well as Ambassadors.
However, in modern world there are two main types of cinnamon, being sold throughout the world. True Cinnamon, also known as Ceylon Cinnamon is considered supreme in all aspects against the Cassia variety which comes from some countries other than Sri Lanka. Some scientific researches conducted in USA, Germany and some other countries have proved that Cassia contains too much of Coumarin which is cancer causative and damages liver in case of excessive usage while the same reports confirms that Ceylon Cinnamon’s coumarin content is negligibly low and therefore it is harmless. Anyway, some qualities of Cassia and Ceylon Cinnamon both are good in some aspects.

Uses Of Ceylon Cinnamon

  • Ceylon Cinnamon has the capacity to produce hundreds of products in numerous aspects such as : Gastronomy – pastry, cake, buns, roles, milk rice, biriyani, spice to other curries.
  • Medicine – vast number of compounds are available in Ceylon Cinnamon to be used in Pharmacology
  • Food preservative
  • Beauty-culture industry
  • Aroma therapy
  • Antiseptic
  • Cosmetics
  • Detergents, etc
  • Ceylon Cinnamon wood is also currently used for various products
  • All in all it is believed that Ceylon Cinnamon which prospered Sri Lanka in ancient times, has the capacity for a renaissance in Sri Lanka financially, socially and culturally.