Cinnamon
 
Cinnamon is obtained from bushy evergreen tree of the laurel family (Lauraceae) native to Ceylon of Sri Lanka, Malabar Coast of India, and Myanmar or Burma. It is also cultivated in South America and the West Indies for the spice consisting of its dried inner bark.

The spice is light brown in colour and has a delicately fragrant aroma and warm, sweet flavour. It is primarily used to make curries, garam masala, sweets, and garam chai. True cinnamon quills are composed of a multitude of paper-thin bark layers.

Cinnamon contains from 0.5 to 1 percent essential oil which has the principal component as cinnamic aldehyde. This oil is distilled from the fragments for use in food, liqueur, perfume, and drugs. Cinnamon bark is widely used as a spice.

It is principally employed in cookery as a condiment and flavoring material in the preparation of desserts, chocolates, spicy candies, and liquors. It is also used in pickling.

In medicine it acts like other volatile oils and once had a reputation of curing agent for colds. It has also been used to treat diarrhea and other problems of the digestive system. It has high antioxidant activity and antimicrobial properties. It also extends the shelf life of foods.