Cinnamon is a small evergreen tree native to southern India and Sri Lanka. Also known as Ceylon cinnamon or "true" cinnamon, the bark of the tree provides the common spice most people are familiar with. Its distinctive flavor is due to the presence of a highly aromatic essential oil, which makes up to 1 percent of its composition. Cinnamon oil, which is distilled from the bark of tree, contains several components with different properties.
Cinnamaldehyde
Also known as cinnamic aldehyde, this organic compound comprises up to 75 percent of cinnamon oil and is responsible for its spicy scent and golden color. Cinnamaldehyde is isolated from cinnamon oil for use in making scented candles, as a flavoring agent for chewing gum, beverages and candy. This agent is also used as a natural pesticide and fungicide.
Since cinnamaldehyde also possesses antibacterial, antiviral and antimicrobial properties, it has medicinal applications. In fact, this substance may provide anti-cancer effects. For example, researchers at the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson found that cinnamaldehyde inhibits cell proliferation and tumor growth in human melanoma culture samples. The full abstract of this study can be found in the Jan. 15, 2009 issue of "Free Radical Biology & Medicine."
Eugenol
About 10 percent of cinnamon oil is composed of eugenol, which provides analgesic and antiseptic properties. Like cinnamaldehyde, eugenol is valued for its scent. In fact, it's used in the perfume industry. In contrast, however, this substance is used to make insect attractants instead of repellents. Male euglossine bees, commonly known as orchid bees, can't seem to leave the stuff alone. While scientists aren't sure why the bees are so attracted to eugenol, it's possible that they collect it to use to make their own brand of pheromones.
Linalool
Linalool is a terpene alcohol that occurs in hundreds of species of plants, most notably mints, citrus fruits and cinnamon. Linalool is used as a pesticide and to provide scent to personal care products, such as soaps, shampoos and skin lotions.
Linalool is also regarded as an aroma-therapeutic agent. A Japanese study led by Akio Nakamura showed that linalool vapors significantly reduce lymphocyte and neutrophil levels in rats experiencing stress due to being restrained. Not only that, but linalool also suppressed protein expression in 109 genes and up-regulated protein synthesis in six other genes. To translate, this means that linalool positively affects blood cells and the activity of 115 genes involved in reacting to stressful situations. (Reference 4)
References
- "PDR for Herbal Medicines"; Medical Economics; 2000.
- U.S. National Library of Medicine: The Cinnamon-Derived Michael Acceptor Cinnamic Aldehyde Impairs Melanoma Cell Proliferation, Invasiveness, and Tumor Growth
- U.S. National Library of Medicine: Odor Compound Detection in Male Euglossine Bees
- U.S. National Library of Medicine: Stress Repression in Restrained Rats by (R)-(-)-Linalool Inhalation and Gene Expression Profiling of Their Whole Blood Cells
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