Cinnamon Essential Oil
Cinnamon essential oil is the volatile oil distilled from the bark or the leaves of trees of the genus Cinnamomum, principally Cinnamomum verum, the true or Ceylon cinnamon of Sri Lanka and southern India, and Cinnamomum cassia, the Chinese cassia. Bark and leaf give chemically different oils from the same tree, and the two are traded as separate products.
Cinnamon bark oil is dominated by cinnamaldehyde at 55 to 75 percent, with eugenol, linalool, benzyl benzoate and caryophyllene giving it a rounded, sweet and slightly floral warmth. Cinnamon leaf oil inverts the ratio: eugenol makes up 70 to 85 percent and cinnamaldehyde falls to a few percent, so the leaf oil is closer in character to clove than to bark. Cassia oil, the third member of the group, runs higher still in cinnamaldehyde and is harsher and hotter. All three carry marked antimicrobial and antioxidant activity from their phenolic and aldehydic constituents.
The oils are mobile liquids, bark oil pale yellow to golden brown, leaf oil yellow to brownish, both darkening on storage. They are close to or heavier than water, soluble in ethanol at 70 percent and above and in fixed oils, and insoluble in water. Cinnamaldehyde oxidises and polymerises on exposure to air and light, so containers are kept full, cool and nitrogen blanketed.
We source bulk Cinnamon Essential Oil from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Henan. 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.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Essential oil
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear mobile liquid, free from suspended matter |
| Colour | Pale yellow to golden brown, bark oil |
| Odour and flavour | Sweet, warm, spicy, characteristic of cinnamon |
| Cinnamaldehyde, bark oil | 55.0 to 75.0 percent |
| Eugenol, bark oil | 4.0 to 15.0 percent |
| Eugenol, leaf oil | Not less than 70.0 percent |
| Specific gravity at 25 degrees Celsius | 1.000 to 1.035, bark oil |
| Refractive index at 20 degrees Celsius | 1.5730 to 1.5910 |
| Optical rotation at 20 degrees Celsius | minus 2 to plus 2 degrees |
| Solubility in 70 percent ethanol | Soluble in 3 volumes |
| Water content | Not more than 0.3 percent |
| 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
The first division is botanical and anatomical: Ceylon cinnamon bark oil, Ceylon cinnamon leaf oil and cassia oil are three distinct grades with different specifications and very different prices. Bark oil is graded on cinnamaldehyde and on the eugenol figure that distinguishes it from cassia; leaf oil is graded on eugenol content, commonly at 70, 78 or 80 percent minimum. Food grade material conforms to the Food Chemicals Codex monographs and to the corresponding ISO monographs for each type.
Within each type, crude once distilled oil is sold as feedstock while rectified and redistilled qualities go to flavour and fragrance work where colour and low residue matter. Coumarin reduced grades are produced from cassia derived material by fractional distillation for markets that limit coumarin. Dilutions in ethanol, propylene glycol and triacetin are standard for compounding, and spray dried encapsulates on modified starch are used where the oil has to survive baking or dry blending.
Applications
- Bakery flavours for cinnamon buns, pastry and biscuits, usually encapsulated so the aroma survives the oven
- Confectionery and chewing gum, where the bark oil gives a rounder cinnamon than cassia
- Chai, cola, mulled wine and spiced beverage compounds through an emulsion or a solubilised system
- Savoury spice blends and braising stocks in which cinnamon is a background sweet spice
- Dessert, ice cream and dairy flavours calling for a soft cinnamon rather than a hot one
- Liqueur and spiced spirit botanical blends
- Oral care and chewing gum flavours as a warm alternative or counterpoint to mint
- Natural preservation systems in bakery and fresh produce, drawing on the antifungal activity of cinnamaldehyde and eugenol
- Fragrance compounding in oriental, gourmand and spicy accords
- Feedstock for the isolation of natural cinnamaldehyde from bark oil and natural eugenol from leaf oil
Brands Using Cinnamon Essential Oil
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Cinnamon Essential Oil on the ingredient label.
- doTERRACinnamon Bark Essential Oil ↗Single essential oil distilled from the bark of the cinnamon tree, sold for aromatic, topical and internal use.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Edens GardenCinnamon Bark Essential Oil ↗Cinnamon bark essential oil sold as a GC/MS tested single oil in 10 ml and 30 ml sizes.Label verified 2026-08-31
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 Cinnamon Essential Oil
Top Cinnamon Essential 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 cinnamon bark oil, cinnamon leaf oil and cassia oil, and 21 CFR 182.10 lists cinnamon and cassia as spices. The oils hold Flavour and Extract Manufacturers Association GRAS status as flavouring substances, and cinnamaldehyde and eugenol are separately recognised as GRAS flavouring substances. Food Chemicals Codex monographs exist for each oil type.
In the European Union the oils are natural flavouring preparations obtained from a food source, and Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 permits them without individual authorisation, subject to the general safety requirements. Coumarin is named in Annex III of that Regulation with maximum levels in specified food categories, which is why cassia derived material is controlled for it while Ceylon bark oil is inherently low. Cinnamal and eugenol are declarable fragrance allergens in cosmetic use under the cosmetic products Regulation. The Joint FAO WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives has evaluated the cinnamyl and phenolic flavouring groups without raising a safety concern at flavour use levels.
Manufacturing Process
Bark oil is made from the quill chips and broken bark left over from the preparation of cinnamon quills. The material is soaked in seawater or fresh water for a day or more to soften it and improve oil release, then charged to a still and distilled with direct steam for up to twenty four hours. Leaf oil is distilled from the pruned foliage in the same equipment on shorter cycles, with the leaf chopped and loaded fresh or lightly wilted.
The condensate is collected in a separator. Bark oil separates into a light fraction that floats and a heavier fraction that sinks, and the two are combined or kept apart according to the grade being made; leaf oil is eugenol rich, so it is denser than water and is drawn from below. The distillation water is cohobated to recover the dissolved cinnamaldehyde and eugenol, which are partly soluble in water. Crude oil is dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate or vacuum stripped, polish filtered and, for flavour grades, rectified by fractional vacuum distillation to improve the colour, remove the resinous tail and set the aldehyde or phenol assay. Finished oil is verified by gas chromatography and filled under nitrogen.
