Sri Lanka was a cradle of the historic spice trade, and since time immemorial, ancient Arabs and Chinese have visited Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) along the silk route to acquire cinnamon and other spices, making ‘Ceylon’ identifiable with cinnamon.
Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume), a native of Sri Lanka, has a place of honor among the spices cultivated in the island. Cinnamon has various uses in many domains, including food and beverage, liqueur, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and fragrance, due to its excellent scent and culinary merits, as well as many other beneficial traits.
Sri Lankan cinnamon history
Historically, the presence of cinnamon has attracted foreign invaders to Sri Lanka. Cinnamon has been a valuable product since the Sinhalese king’s era and the time of the Middle East's early civilizations, according to several authors. There are archaeological evidences for the preservation of cinnamon oil in tiny Phoenician flasks discovered in the store chambers of temples and treasuries in the southern Levant between the eleventh and late tenth centuries BCE. And there are many more reports and records saying on the ancient cinnamon trade during the colonial period in Sri Lanka.
Originally gathered from the rainforests of Sri Lanka's south-western region, where C. zeylanicum originated, cinnamon was domesticated or systematically cultivated under the Dutch administration of the country's coastal belt in the seventeenth century according to the reports.
Current cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka
Among the total agricultural produce of Sri Lanka, cinnamon exports provide the second highest in terms of income (second only to tea). In addition to providing significant foreign earnings, the cinnamon industry employs over 350,000 families, reflecting the sector's long-standing importance in Sri Lankan society.
Cinnamon is mostly farmed on smallholdings of around 0.5 hectares, with over 70,000 smallholders involved in its cultivation. Only 5–10% of the cinnamon production area is comprised of bigger plantations of 5–20 hectares. Rather than variety of raw cinnamon products, Value added Cinnamon products such as Cinnamon oil, Cinnamon powder and Tablets are also produced and exported to large number of countries.
International reputation for Sri Lankan Cinnamon
Sri Lanka has a monopoly on real cinnamon on the world market for over seven centuries, accounting for more than 90% of total sales (FAOSTAT 2018; SLEDB 2020). Sri Lanka produces around 17,000 tons of cinnamon bark per year, over 90 percent of which is exported mostly in the form of quills hardly value addition. The largest importers are a few countries in South and North America, with Mexico accounting for 70%. true cinnamon is about three to four times more expensive than cassia.
“There are two types of cinnamon in the world market. The first is the inner bark of C. zeylanicum Blume (syn. C. verum Berchthold & Presl), which is called Ceylon cinnamon, Sri Lankan cinnamon or true cinnamon and is grown only in Sri Lanka, Madagascar and the Seychelles. The other type is generally known as cassia or cassia cinnamon, and is derived mainly from two other species of the genus Cinnamomum: C. cassia (L.) Berchthold & Presl. (Syn. C. aromaticum Nees) from China and Vietnam, which is called Chinese cassia, and C. burmannii C.G. Th. Nees, which is called Indonesian or Java cassia. Due to a different processing technique, Vietnam product, also called Saigon cassia, had been thought to come from Cinnamomum loureiroi Nees. This is a rare species, and what is exported from Vietnam has now been confirmed as coming from C. cassia.”Cinnamon botany, agronomy, chemistry and industrial applications, R. Senaratne and R. Pathirana (2020)
C. zeylanicum is referred to as 'cinnamon' in several European nations, including the United Kingdom, while all other cinnamon products are referred to as 'cassia' or 'cassia cinnamon'.
Why does true Ceylon cinnamon is Like no other spice; Its unique to Sri Lanka
Cinnamon planted and processed in Sri Lanka has a long history in the worldwide market due to its distinctive quality, color, flavor, and scent. Ceylon Cinnamon, derived from the old name of Sri Lanka, is a well-known geographical indicator for cinnamon.
The unique method of processing and curing of cinnamon entices the characteristic Flavour over cassia. The preparation of Cinnamon quills involves a combination of art and skill unique to Sri Lanka and has been handed down from generation to generation over centuries.
“Quill making is a traditional, highly-skilled, and time-consuming task, which is unique to the cinnamon produced in Sri Lanka and is associated with the lives of its people culturally, socially, and economically”“Ceylon cinnamon”: Much more than just a spice, L. Sooriyagoda et al. (2021)
Ceylon cinnamon can be identified based on the shape and pattern of the quills. The quills of Ceylon cinnamon are made using the dried thin inner bark of the stems which are rolled into quills that are less than 0.08 mm of thickness. It has a single spiral curl and it is filled with multiple layers of short pieces of bark.
Ceylon cinnamon is considered to be the most delicate among the major species of cinnamon. Its flavor is more subdued, less bitter, and has a sweet finish. It has a sweet aromatic smell.
Ceylon cinnamon, also known as true cinnamon is considered superior to other species due to its unique biochemical properties. For example, C. zeylanicum has no detectable amount of coumarin in methanol extractions. And the essential oil produced using the bark of Ceylon cinnamon contains trans-cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, and linalool as its main components. All these components account for 80% of its composition.
Due to its high quality and unique chemical composition, Ceylon Cinnamon is relatively expensive!
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