Chinese Cinnamon Oil
Chinese cinnamon oil, traded internationally as cassia oil, is the essential oil steam distilled from the leaves, twigs and bark fragments of Cinnamomum cassia, an evergreen tree of the laurel family grown chiefly in Guangxi and Guangdong. It is distinct from the cinnamon bark oil of Cinnamomum verum, being far higher in cinnamaldehyde and lacking the eugenol that gives Ceylon cinnamon its softer, clove tinged character.
Cinnamaldehyde normally accounts for 80 to 90 percent of the oil, with cinnamyl acetate, coumarin, salicylaldehyde and 2 methoxycinnamaldehyde making up most of the balance. The result is a strong, sweet, hot spicy aroma with considerable antimicrobial activity, used in food both for flavour and for its effect on mould and bacterial growth. Odour strength is high and dosage in finished product runs from a few parts per million upward.
The oil is a mobile yellowish to reddish brown liquid that darkens and thickens on storage as the aldehyde oxidises to cinnamic acid and polymerises. It is heavier than water, with a specific gravity above 1.05, soluble in ethanol at 70 percent and above, in fixed oils and in propylene glycol, and insoluble in water. It attacks natural rubber and discolours on iron contact, so it is handled in glass, aluminium or lined steel under nitrogen.
We source bulk Chinese Cinnamon Oil from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Jiangxi. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Essential oil
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear mobile liquid, free from sediment |
| Colour | Yellowish brown to reddish brown |
| Odour and flavour | Strong sweet hot spicy, characteristic of cassia |
| Total aldehydes as cinnamaldehyde | Not less than 85.0 percent |
| Cinnamyl acetate | 1.0 to 6.0 percent |
| Coumarin | Not more than 3.0 percent |
| Eugenol | Not more than 1.0 percent |
| Specific gravity at 25 degrees Celsius | 1.052 to 1.070 |
| Refractive index at 20 degrees Celsius | 1.6000 to 1.6140 |
| Optical rotation at 20 degrees Celsius | minus 1 to plus 1 degree |
| Solubility in 70 percent ethanol | Soluble in 3 volumes |
| Non volatile residue | Not more than 2.0 percent |
| Heavy metals as Pb | Not more than 10 mg/kg |
| Lead | Not more than 2 mg/kg |
Common Markets Grades
Cassia oil is graded almost entirely on cinnamaldehyde content, with 80, 85 and 88 percent minimum being the common trading points and higher assays produced by vacuum rectification. Crude, once distilled oil is sold to processors as feedstock, while rectified and redistilled qualities go to flavour and fragrance use where colour, clarity and low residue matter. Food grade material conforms to the Food Chemicals Codex monograph for cassia oil and to the relevant ISO monograph.
Coumarin reduced grades are produced for markets that limit coumarin intake from cinnamon flavourings, and the reduction is achieved by fractional distillation rather than by extraction. Natural cinnamaldehyde isolated from the oil at 98 percent and above is a separate product used where the single constituent rather than the whole oil is wanted. The oil is also stocked as ethanol and propylene glycol dilutions and as spray dried encapsulates on modified starch for dry seasoning and bakery premixes.
Applications
- Bakery flavours for cinnamon rolls, buns and biscuits, generally as an encapsulate so the aroma survives the oven
- Confectionery, particularly hot cinnamon hard candy and chewing gum, where the oil carries both the flavour and the burn
- Chinese five spice and other savoury spice blends as the dominant sweet spicy component
- Braised and stewed meat seasonings, where cassia is traditional in the master stock
- Cola, chai and spiced beverage compounds at parts per million dosage through an emulsion
- Mulled wine, spiced spirit and liqueur botanical blends
- Natural preservation systems in bakery and fresh produce, using the antifungal activity of cinnamaldehyde
- Oral care and chewing gum flavours as a warm counterpoint to mint
- Feedstock for the isolation of natural cinnamaldehyde and for downstream conversion to cinnamyl alcohol and cinnamic acid
- Fragrance compounding in oriental, gourmand and spicy accords
Brands Using Chinese Cinnamon Oil
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Chinese Cinnamon Oil on the ingredient label.
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Chinese Cinnamon Oil
Top Chinese Cinnamon Oil manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States, the generally recognised as safe listing of essential oils, oleoresins and natural extractives in 21 CFR 182.20 covers cassia oil, and 21 CFR 182.10 lists cassia as a spice. The oil carries Flavour and Extract Manufacturers Association GRAS status as a flavouring substance, and cinnamaldehyde is separately listed as a GRAS synthetic flavouring substance. A Food Chemicals Codex monograph for cassia oil sets identity, aldehyde content and purity limits.
In the European Union the oil is a natural flavouring preparation from a food source, and Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 permits it without individual authorisation, but Annex III of that Regulation names coumarin with maximum levels in specified categories of food, and cassia oil is the main route by which coumarin enters flavoured bakery and beverage products. Cinnamal is a declarable fragrance allergen in cosmetic use under the cosmetic products Regulation. The Joint FAO WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives has evaluated cinnamyl derivatives as a flavouring group and raised no safety concern at the levels used in flavouring; coumarin has been evaluated separately.
Manufacturing Process
Leaves, young twigs and bark trimmings of Cinnamomum cassia are collected, chopped and, in most Chinese plants, allowed to soak in water before distillation to soften the tissue and improve oil release. The charge is loaded into a still and distilled with direct steam for six to twenty four hours. Because cinnamaldehyde is high boiling and partly water soluble, a long run and extensive cohobation of the distillation water are needed to reach commercial yield.
The condensate flows to a heavy oil separator, since cassia oil is denser than water and collects below it. The separated crude oil is dried, then rectified by fractional distillation under vacuum, which improves the colour, removes the resinous tail and the light head, raises the cinnamaldehyde assay to the grade being produced and, in coumarin reduced qualities, takes coumarin off in a separate cut. The rectified oil is polish filtered, checked by gas chromatography and refractive index, and filled under nitrogen into lined drums kept full, cool and away from light.
