ALDEHYDIC VOLATILE OILS

These may be classified as

1. Acyclic: e.g. Geraniol, Neral, and Citronellol.

2. Cyclic: e.g. Cinnamaldehyde, Vanillin, and anisaldehyde.

CINNAMON

There are two varieties;

Saigon cinnamon B.O Cinnamomum loureirii Nees.

Ceylon cinnamon B.O Cinnamomum zeylanicum Nees.

Family Lauraceae.

P.U Dried inner bark of the shoot.

Habitat Saigon cinnamon in China, Japan and Indonesia. Ceylon cinnamon in Ceylon, Srilanka.

Commerce:

The fresh seeds are sown in seedbeds. The plants are than arranged with about 6-10 ft. apart. When they are six months old, about 5-6 shoots are then allowed to grow from the stump and kept straight by pruning. The young stems are then cut down to a few inches about the ground and allowed to form stools from which adventitious but arise. These buds develop into adventitious shoot, which lengthens at the rate of about 1m per year. When the shoots are about 2m long they are cut down during the rainy season and brought to the shade where leaves and small twigs are removed. The outer bark is then is then scrapped off with curved knives. Longitudinal incision of about 6-8 inch is made, through the soft inner bark carefully, to the cambium line and the inner bark is removed with care from the hard wood as quills.

A long stick of compound quills is then formed by placing 7—12 soft white quills together to form a tube about one yard long and then rolled by hand, placed on mats and then allowed to dry successively for three days in sun and three days in shade. During drying the original white colour of the bark turns into a yellowish brown or weak orange colour. The quills are then made into bundles and tied with split bamboo.

The quills are chiefly rolled, composed of 7—12 or thinner layers of inner bark which are often 1m long. The bark is 1mm thick. The outer surface is light yellowish brown to weak orange, smooth longitudinally, striated and showing circular or irregular brown patches. Inner surface is light yellowish brown to weak orange with faint longitudinally striation,

CONSTITUENTS: -

Cinnamon contains volatile oil about 2% containing Cinnamic aldehyde, cryophylline, resin mucilage, starch, tannins and ca-oxalate.

USES: -

1. Aromatic 2. Flavoring agent 3. Carminative

BITTER ORANGE PEEL:

B.O: - Citrus aurantium

SWEET ORANGE PEEL:

B.O: - Citrus sinesis

LEMON PEEL:

B.O:- Citrus limon

Family: - Rutaceae

P.U :- Dried outer part of pericarp of ripe fruit.

CONSTITUENTS:-

Bitter orange peel: 2.5% of volatile oil, vit. C and flavonoid glycosides, hesperidin and neoheperidin.

Sweet orange peel: - Volatile oil having d-limonene dicyclic aldehyde, methyl anthranilic acid and flavouring glycosides along with hesperidine.

Lemon peel: - lemon peel contains not less than 2.5% of volatile oil. Lemon oil contains terpenes moity, d-limonene, citral, citronellol and ca-oxalate.

USES: -

1. Carminative 2. Aromatic 3. Flavoring purposes.