ABSTRACT
Cinnamomum cassia, called Chinese cassia or Chinese cinnamon, is an evergreen tree originating in southern China, and is widely grown there and other parts of southern and eastern Asia The principal producer of cassia oil is China, and there it is an age-old cottage industry. C. cassia is found mostly in southern China, Vietnam, and Laos and Myanmar, and is commercially cultivated in Vietnam and China. Leaf tissues of C. cassia and other species contain cellular inclusions. Tannic substances are found in the epidermal and mesophyll cells, and appear as deep brown or black deposits. Cassia bark is obtained from standing trees; therefore, fast bark regeneration is very important. Dried cassia buds have a sweet, warm, pungent taste, similar to that of cassia bark. C. cassia is a good source of essential oil, having pesticidal, insecticidal, larvicidal, and mosquitocidal activity. These activities are attributed to the presence of cinnamaldehyde as a principal active compound.
