Cinnamomi Cortex, B.P. Cinnamon Bark.
Related entries: Cassia bark - Cinnamon bark - Canella bark - Camphor - Oliver bark
Related entry: Oil of cinnamon
Cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, U.S.P.; Ceylon Cinnamon) is obtained from cultivated trees of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Breyn. (N.O. Laurineae), a native of Ceylon, whence the official drug is obtained. The cinnamon tree is cultivated in other countries, notably Brazil, West Indies, and Java, but the bark obtained therefrom is inferior in fragrance to that obtained from Ceylon cinnamon. The shoots from truncated stocks are cut down when nearly two years old and from 1 to 2 meters long, the bark is stripped off, and, after exposure to the air for about twenty-four hours, freed from epidermis and cortex by scraping. The strips are then packed inside one another in long quills, and dried. The bark occurs in long slender sticks, containing numerous small quills or channelled pieces. The quills are dull pale brown in colour, extremely thin and brittle, and often marked with little scars or holes. The inner surface is darker and marked with faint longitudinal striations. No cork is present and not more than traces of the cortex. The drug has a fragrant odour and warm sweet aromatic taste. Inferior qualities are generally thicker, less carefully scraped, more mucilaginous, and less aromatic. Powdered cinnamon may be identified by the presence of numerous isolated bast fibres with thick walls and of sclerenchymatous cells with horse-shoe thickening. Small, simple starch grains and minute prisms of calcium oxalate also occur, together with the debris of oil cells. It may be distinguished from powdered cassia bark by the more slender bast fibres, smaller starch grains and absence of cork. The drug yields about 4 per cent. of ash. Cinnamomum Saigonicum, U.S.P., is the bark of an undetermined species; the dose of Saigon cinnamon is the same as that of Ceylon cinnamon.
Constituents.—Cinnamon bark contains 0.5 to 1.0 per cent. of volatile oil, with tannin and mucilage.
Action and Uses.—Powdered cinnamon bark is carminative and antiseptic, by virtue of its volatile oil (see Oleum Cinnamomi), and astringent owing to the tannin it contains. For use in diarrhoea, as an intestinal astringent and stimulant, the powder (as in Pulvis Cinnamomi Compositus or Pulvis Cretae Aromaticus) or Tinctura Cinnamomi is preferred. Aqua Cinnamomi contains volatile oil in suspension and in solution, and is a useful aromatic vehicle.
Dose.—6 to 12 decigrams (10 to 20 grains).
PREPARATIONS.
For preparations of the Oil, see under Oleum Cinnamomi.
- Aqua Cinnamomi, B.P.—CINNAMON WATER.
- Cinnamon bark, bruised, 10; water, 200 Add the bruised bark to the water and distil 100. Cinnamon water is employed as a carminative in the colic and flatulence of children. It forms an ingredient of several official mixtures, Dose.—30 to 60 mils (1 to 2 fluid ounces).
- Fluidextractum Aromaticum, U.S.P.—AROMATIC FLUIDEXTRACT.
- Aromatic powder, U.S.P., 100; alcohol (95 per cent.), to 100. Prepared by the percolation process. Average dose.—1 mil (15 minims).
- Pulvis Aromaticus, U.S.P.—AROMATIC POWDER, U.S.P.
- Saigon cinnamon, 35; ginger, 35; cardamom, 15; nutmeg, 15; all in fine powder. Average dose.—1 gramme (15 grains).
- Pulvis Aromaticus Compositus, B.P., 1864.—COMPOUND AROMATIC POWDER.
- Cinnamon bark, 4; nutmeg, 3; saffron 3; cloves, 1.5; cardamom seeds, 1; refined sugar, 25. The properties of this preparation resemble those of Confectio Aromatica. Dose.—½ to 4 grammes (10 to 60 grains). If 11 of prepared chalk be added to this powder, Pulvis Cretae Aromaticus, B.P., 1885, will be produced.
- Pulvis Cinnamomi Compositus, B.P.—COMPOUND POWDER OF CINNAMON. Syn.—Pulvis Aromaticus.
- Cinnamon bark, 1; cardamom seeds, 1; ginger, 1; all in powder. It is employed in powders, cachets, or in mixture form, as a gastro-intestinal carminative and in the treatment of diarrhoea. This official preparation should not be confused with Pulvis Aromaticus Compositus, B.P., 1864. Dose.—½ to, 2 ½ grammes (10 to 40 grains).
- Tinctura Cinnamomi, B.P.—TINCTURE OF CINNAMON.
- Cinnamon bark, in No. 40 powder, 20; alcohol (70 per cent.), sufficient to produce 100. Prepare by the percolation process. Tincture of cinnamon is used as a carminative and flavouring agent. Dose.—2 to 4 mils (½ to 1 fluid drachm).
- Tinctura Cinnamomi, U.S.P.—TINCTURE OF CINNAMON, U.S.P.
- Saigon cinnamon, in No. 50 powder, 20; glycerin, 7.5; alcohol (70 per cent.), sufficient to produce 100. Average dose.—2 mils (30 minims).
- Tinctura Cinnamomi Composita, B.P.C.—COMPOUND TINCTURE OF CINNAMON.
- Cinnamon bark, 2.5; cardamom seeds, 1.25; long pepper, 1; ginger, 1; alcohol (60 per cent.), to 100. This preparation corresponds to Tinctura Cinnamomi Composita of the London Pharmacopoeia, 1851, but is made with one-sixth more long pepper and ginger. Compound tincture of cinnamon may be used for the same purpose as Tinctura Cinnamomi. Dose.—4 to 8 mils (1 to 2 fluid drachms).
