Saleekha(Cinnamomum Cassia Blume): A Review

Cinnamomum cassiaBlume(Cinnamon) is a well-known traditional medicine with therapeutic benefits for centuries. The plant Cinnamon cassia Blume is commonly known as Chinese cinnamon. Mostly its bark and leaves are used in medicine. C. cassia is safe when used in small amounts as in foods and medicinal doses. Cinnamomum cassia Blume (Family: Lauraceae) is often used as a substitute for cinnamon.The bark of cassia is coarser and thicker with a more intense aroma than the true cinnamon, C. verum. Around 250 species of this genus are identified around the world. The Chinese cinnamon bark (C. cassia) contains, cinnamon oil, cinnamaldehyde, eugenol,It also contains mucilage, starch & tanninscinnamyl acetate, cinnamic acidphenyl propyl acetate, orthocumaric aldehyde, tannic acid, and starch. Cinnamaldehyde- showed potent anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities. The whole plant is medicinally important in the Indian traditional system of medicine. In this review, the reported pharmacological activities of C. cassia Blume to cure or prevent several diseases. Different pharmacological activities like anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antihyperlipidemic, antidiabetic, antimicrobial activity activities of C. cassia Blume. The present article describes a detailed review of literature for this plant species including taxonomy pharmacology and photochemistry in an organized way. This review paper will surely serve as an important source for future scientific investigations on this plant.