A kind of lauraceae (Lauraceae) plant, scientific name is Cinnamomum cassia. The bark is aromatic, also known as cinnamon, and can be used as a spice. It tastes similar to cinnamon bark from Sri Lanka, but it is more spicy, not as delicious as cinnamon bark, and thicker than cinnamon bark. Cinnamon bark contains 1-2% volatile oil, the main component of which is cinnamaldehyde (C9H8O).
The cinnamon bark is stripped from the stems and branches, left to dry, and rolled into rolls. Some varieties are scraped. The scraped bark is thin and bright reddish brown, and the unscraped bark is thick and gray. Cinnamon powder light reddish brown. The aroma of cinnamon produced in China is slightly inferior to that produced in Vietnam and Indonesia. All three are fragrant, sweet and spicy. Vietnamese cinnamon (Saigon cinnamon) has the best texture. The immature fruits of Chinese cinnamon and cinnamon (C. loureirii) are adnate in a hard, wrinkled taupe cup-shaped calyx, usually 11 mm (0.4 in, including the calyx tube); the upper diameter is about 6 mm ( 0.25 inches), and the calyx tube is taken off and dried, which is called cinnamon bud. It has the aroma of cinnamon bark and the sweet and spicy taste of cinnamon bark, and is used for food seasoning.
[Aliases] Yugui, Mugui, Jungui, Tonggui, Dagui, Spicy Gui, Gui.
[Source] It is the bark of Cinnamomum cassia Presl, a plant of Lauraceae.
【Plant form】Evergreen tree, fragrant. Bark taupe, young branches four-sided, covered with grayish-yellow hairs. Leaves alternate or nearly opposite, leathery, long elliptic to nearly lanceolate, apex shortly pointed, base cuneate, upper green, shiny, three-veined from base; petiole. Panicle axillary; tepals 6, white; fertile stamens 9, 3 whorls, inner whorl filaments with 2 glands at the base, ovary ovate. Berries purple-black, elliptic, with a shallow cup-shaped receptacle. The flowering period is from June to August, and the fruiting period is from October to February to March of the following year.
Mostly cultivated. Produced in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian.
[Harvesting] The bark and branch bark that have been cultivated for 5 to 10 years are mostly stripped in autumn, and dried in the sun or in the shade.
【Properties】 This product is in shallow groove or roll shape, 30-50cm long, 3-10cm wide or tube diameter, and 2-8mm thick. The outer surface is greyish-brown, slightly rough, with slightly raised transverse lenticels and fine wrinkles; the inner surface is brownish-red, smooth, with fine longitudinal lines, and oil marks when scratched. The texture is hard and brittle, the cross-section is granular, the outer layer is brown, the inner layer is reddish brown and oily, and there is a light yellow line (stone cell band) between the two layers. The aroma is strong, sweet and spicy.
[Chemical composition] Contains volatile oil, oil contains cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl acetate, eugenol, cinnamic acid, benzoic acid acetic acid, cinnzeylanol, cinnzeylanine ).
[nature and flavor] hot in nature, pungent and sweet in taste.
[Functions and Indications] Replenishing fire and supporting yang, drawing fire back to its source, dispelling cold and relieving pain, promoting blood circulation and stimulating menstruation. For impotence, uterine cold, confidant cold pain, deficiency-cold vomiting and diarrhea, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, warming meridians and dredging channels.
[Chemical composition] Contains volatile oil, the oil contains cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, etc., and contains tannin and mucus.