This document provides information on cinnamon processing from cultivation to post-harvest handling. It discusses the historical background of cinnamon, major producers and importers, and describes the four main types of cinnamon - Ceylon, Saigon, Chinese, and Indonesian. The document outlines the harvesting process and tools used, and explains the six steps of post-harvest processing - peeling, rolling, piping, drying, grading, and packaging. Quality factors like coumarin limits and applications in food and pharmaceutical industries are also covered.

1. CINNAMON PROCESSING
(BARK OF AN EVERGREEN TREE)
-BY SENTHAMIZH SELVAN.T

2. CONTENT
• HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• MARKET OVERVIEW
• PRODUCT GEADES
• CULTIVATION METHODS
• HARVESTING PROCESS
• POST HARVESTING PROCESS
• QUALITY SPECIFICATIONS
• NUTRITIONAL FACTS
• APPLICATIONS
• HEALTH BENEFITS
• REFERENCES

4. HISTORY OF CINNAMON
1271 BC-Bible mention Moses using Cinnamon in
anointing oil. (Exodus 30:23–26)
1271 BC-Bible mention Moses using Cinnamon in
anointing oil. (Exodus 30:23–26)

5. 500Bc-Arab traders
brought Cinnamon
to Europe.
1500 Bc-Portugal
Took over ceylon
tree production.

6. 1795-British are
in control of
ceylon.
1580-Dutch takeover
ceylon from Portuguesse.
1580-Dutch takeover
ceylon from Portuguesse.
1833-Cinnamon Production Spreads to
Other parts of the world
.

7. • Portuguese
requested trading
rights from the
Sinhalese King,
which was
granted.
• Soon they started
to control the
trade of Cinnamon

8. Dutch moved in and started to seize control in
Ceylon. It took them 50 years to oust the Portuguese
completely.

9. Sinhalese King of
Kandy undertook
military campaigns
against the European
oppressors killed
thousands of Dutch
during war.

10. OTHER NAMES FOR CINNAMON
English: Ceylon cinnamon ,Sri Lanka cinnamon
Hindi :Darchini/Dalchini
Kannada: Lavangapatta
Malayalam : Patta, Karuapatta, Ilavangam
Tamil : Illavangam
Telugu: Lavangamu, Dalchini chekka
Singhalese:Kurundu
Chinese:Jou kuei, Yuk gwai
Indonesian Kayu manis

11. MAJOR CINNAMON PRODUCERS
INDONESIAINDONESIA CHINACHINA
VIETNAMVIETNAM SRILANKASRILANKA

12. MAJOR CINNAMON IMPORTERS
GERMANYGERMANY USAUSA
SAUDI ARABIASAUDI ARABIA TAIWANTAIWAN
BRITANBRITAN

13. MAJOR ECONOMIC SPECIES CINNAMON

14. PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION

17. 1.INDONESIAN CINNAMON
 Around 70% of North America uses Cassia
Cinnamon.
 Indonesia is the chief supplier of Cassia Cinnamon.
 Because it is much cheaper than Ceylon Cinnamon
which tends to be expensive because of the hand
crafted process needed to harvest it and roll it in
multiple thin layers.
 Cassia Cinnamon is a hard bark that is spicy, smells
pretty strong and sometimes bitter.

18. 2.SAIGON CINNAMON
 This is another Cinnamon which has gained in
popularity recently.
 Originating in Vietnam this cinnamon admittedly
makes a good first impression in terms of sheer
aroma and taste.
It tends to be even more spicy ,strong and sweet at
the same time.
 It's a little more expensive than Cassia Cinnamon but
has the highest levels of Coumarin.

19. 3.CHINESE/CASSIA CINNAMON
It tends to be more pungent, less sweet and
delicate, and slightly bitter.
Possibly because of the soil conditions.
Cinnamon quality can vary depending on soil
conditions.
 Most Chinese Cinnamon probably stays in
China, used in many of the Chinese medications
for coughs, phlegm and other illnesses.

20. 4.CEYLON CINNAMON
 Ceylon Cinnamon grows best in Sandy soil. The tree grows
to about 49 feet in its natural state but is cut earlier for
commercial purposes. It has a think bark.
 The leaves are shiny and leathery on top and dull on the
underside. The flowers are white with an oval sized fruit
which becomes bluish with white spots when ripe.
 The leaves when crushed are spicy and hot to taste while
peeling away the outer bark of the tree yields a very strong
cinnamon smell.
The biggest advantage of Ceylon Cinnamon is ultra-low
Coumarin levels.

24. CLASSIFICATION OF CEYLON) CINNAMON QUILLS

27. BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION
• Class :Magnoliopsida
• Order :Magnoliales
• Family :Lauraceae.
• Chinese cassia – Cinnamomum cassia
• Indonesian cassia – C. burmannii
• Indian cassia – C. tamala
• Vietnam cassia – C. cassia/C. loureirii

28. • Cinnamon plants are grown in bushes.
• Plant grows to a height of 10 to 15 m with a stem
girth of 30-50 m under natural conditions.
• In plantations when the plants are pruned and
chopped from time to time it could be maintained
as a bush.
• When the seedlings attain the age of two years
to grow to a height of about 2 m and girth
around 3-6 cm they are ready for harvesting.

29. • Cinnamon spice is obtained by drying the central
part of the bark and is marketed as quills or
powder.
• True” cinnamon refers to Sri Lankan or Ceylon
cinnamon, a species of cinnamon native to Sri
Lanka.
• “Cassia” cinnamon is another species of
cinnamon native to China and Indonesia.

30. CLIMATIC CONDITION
• Cinnamon is cultivated up to an altitude of
500 metres above mean sea level
• The mean temperature is 27ºC and
• Annual rainfall is 2000–2400 mm.

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32. HARVESTING
• Best Season Sep to Nov.
• The side branches are pruned off about three months
before harvesting.
• Cinnamon bark is only obtained from stems that are
between 1.2 and 5cm in diameter.
Harvesting Stage
Plants are two years of age they typically measure about
2 m in height and about 8–12 cm at the base.
Harvesting of cinnamon shoots is undertaken by skilled
workers

33. Cinnamon bark is harvested twice a year.
Immediately after each of the rainy seasons
when the humidity makes the bark peel more
easily.
Harvesting begins early morning.
Cinnamon bark is harvested twice a year.
Immediately after each of the rainy seasons
when the humidity makes the bark peel more
easily.
Harvesting begins early morning.

34. TOOLS USED FOR HARVESTING
(a)a curved knife for
scrapping the outer dead
bark surface
(b) a knife having a point on
one side for ripping side
branches;
(c) brass or wooden rod to
loosen bark
(d) a specially designed
pointed knife to remove
the loosened bark.
(a)a curved knife for
scrapping the outer dead
bark surface
(b) a knife having a point on
one side for ripping side
branches;
(c) brass or wooden rod to
loosen bark
(d) a specially designed
pointed knife to remove
the loosened bark.

35. YIELD OF CINNAMON
• It depends on variety and age:
• For 3-4 year plants-62-125kgquills/hectre
• For 10-11 year onwards-225-300
kgquills/hectre

36. POST HARVEST PROCESSING

37. GENERAL PROCESS FLOW

38. 1.PEELING
4.DRYING 6.PACKAGING
2.ROLLING 3.PIPING
5.GRADING

39. STEP1- PEELING
• The rough outer bark is first scraped off with a
special knife.
• Then the scraped portion is polished with a
brass rod to facilitate easy peeling.
• A longitudinal slit is made from one end to other
and the bark is peeled off.
• A shoot cut in the morning is peeled on the
same day

40. STEP2- ROLLING
• The barks are packed together and placed one
above the other and pressed well.
• The bark slips are reduced to 20 cm length and
are piled up in small enclosures made by sticks.
• Then they are covered with dry leaves or mat to
preserve the moisture for the next day’s
operation and also to enhance slight
fermentation.

41. STEP 3- PIPING
• Rolled slips are taken to the piping yard for piping
operations. The outer skins scraped off with a small curved
knife.
• The scraped slips are sorted into different grades according
to thickness. The graded slips are trimmed, ends are cut and
pressed over pipes.
• Slips are rolled into pipes and soon after, they are allowed to
dry.
• During drying, smaller quills are inserted into the bigger
ones, forming smooth and pale brown compound quills,
which are known as pipes.
• The quills are bleached, if necessary, by sulphur treatment
for about 8 hours.

42. STEP 4- DRYING
• The quills are arranged in parallel lines in the shade
for drying as direct exposure to the sun at this stage
would result in warping.
• The dried quills, thus obtained, consist of a mixture
of coarse and fine types and are yellowish brown in
colour.
• The compound quills are placed on coir rope racks
and dried in the shade to prevent warping.
• After four or five days of drying, the quills are rolled
on a board to tighten the filling and then placed in
subdued sunlight for further drying.

43. STEP 5- GRADING
• Depending on the amount of foxings, size and
colour they are graded. Quills free from foxing
are considered to be the best
• The Sri Lankan grading system divides the cinnamon
quills into four main groups according to diameter:
Quills Alba < 6mm diameter
Continental <16mm diameter
Mexican<19mm diameter
Hamburg<32mm diameter

44. STEP6-PACKAGING
• Whole cinnamon shall be packed in clean, sound and
dry containers made of a material which does not affect
the product or its flavour.
• The different commercial classes are usually packed as
follows:
– Cinnamon, type Sri Lanka: in cylindrical bales of about
45 kg;
– Cinnamon, type Seychelles quills and quillings: in
wooden boxes of about 100 to150 kg.

45. STEP7-MARKING
• The following particulars shall be marked or labelled on
each container:
(a) Name of the material, and the trade name or brand
name, if any
(b) Name and address of the manufacturer or packer
(c) Batch or code number
(d) Net mass;
(e) Grade of the material;
(f) Producing country; and
(g) Any other marking required by the purchaser, such as
year of harvest and date of

46. STEP 6- STORAGE
• Cinnamon should be stored in a cool, dry place.
Excessive heat will volatilise and dissipate its
aromatic essential oils, and high humidity will tend
to cake it.
• Whole cinnamon does not lose its volatile oil as fast
as that of the ground form.
• When ground cinnamon is stored in bulk in an
ambient warehouse, a good rule of thumb is loss of
0.1% volatile oil per month. Whole quills will keep
their flavour longer.
• Whole quills will keep their flavour longer.

47. CINNAMON BIPRODUCTS

49. QUILLINGS
• Quillings are made from broken pieces and
splits of all grades of cinnamon quills.
• The main characteristics of quillings are their
shapes and sizes.
• The aroma and taste of quillings are the same
as the quills, even though they are marketed as
medium quality cinnamon

50. FEATHERINGS
• Featherings are feather-like pieces of inner bark
consisting of shavings and small pieces of bark
left over from the process of making quills.
• Scrapings from the bark or small twigs and
stalks of cinnamon shoots, including a minimum
quantity of chips, are also considered as
featherings.
• The product is marketed as medium quality
cinnamon.

51. CHIPS
• Chips are not peeled out from the stem. Instead they are
scraped off from the greenish brown, mature, thick
pieces of bark, which are inferior quality cinnamon.
• The outer bark,which has been obtained by beating or
scraping the shoots is also considered to be chips.
Chips are graded into two categories,
• Grade 1 – Those containing small featherings obtained
by scraping very small twigs.
• They contain a small amount of other bark material.
• Grade 2 – Those containing inner and outer bark and
pieces of wood

52. QUALITY FACTORS

53. PHYSIOCHEMICAL SPEC

54. CLEANLINESS SPECIFICATION

56. COUMARIN LIMIT
S.NO TYPE OF CINNAMON COUMARIN CONTENT
1 Ceylon Cinnamon, True Cinnamon,
Mexican Cinnamon
0.017 g/kg
2 Indonesian Cinnamon, Korintje
Cinnamon, Padang Cassia
2.15 g/kg
3 Saigon cinnamon, Vietnamese Cassia,
Vietnamese Cinnamon
6.97 g/kg
4 Cassia Cinnamon or Chinese
Cinnamon
0.31 g/kg

58. Maximum levels for heavy metals
tolerated in spices and herbs under ESA
mg/kg
• Heavy Metal
• Max. Level (mg/kg)
• Arsenic 5.00
• Copper 20.0
• Lead 10.0
• Zinc 50.0

59. APPLICATION IN PHARMACEUTICALS
INDUSTRY
• Tincture of cinnamon
• Concentrated cinnamon water
• Distilled cinnamon powder
• Cinnamon spirit (BPC)
• Cinnamon syrup (AP)

60. APPLICATION FOOD INDUSTRY
• In Mexico, the largest importer of Sri Lankan
cinnamon, it is drunk with coffee and
chocolate or brewed as a tea.

61. In Indian cuisine, it is used in curries and important
ingredient in garam masala.

62. Western cuisine, it is mainly used in sweet dishes.Western cuisine, it is mainly used in sweet dishes.

65. REFERENCES
• http://www.cinnamonvogue.com/Types_of_Cin
• http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/cin
• The genus Cinnamomum Cinnamon and
Cassia by P.N. Ravindran.