Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a spice produced from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus cinnamomum. Cinnamon was once more valuable than gold. In Egypt it was sought for embalming and religious practices, and was so highly prized among ancient nations that it was regarded as a gift fit for monarchs and even for a deity; an inscription records the gift of cinnamon and cassia to the temple of Apollo at Miletus. The spice, consisting of the dried inner bark, is brown in colour and has a delicately fragrant aroma and a warm sweet flavour. Cinnamon is used to flavour a variety of foods, from confections to curries to beverages, and is popular in bakery goods in many places. Essential oil is distilled from the bark fragments for use in food, liqueur, perfume, and drugs.

Only a few Cinnamomum species are grown commercially for spice. Cinnamomum verum (known as "Ceylon cinnamon" after its origins in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), is considered to be "true cinnamon", but most cinnamon in international commerce is derived from four other species, usually and more correctly referred to as "cassia"

Through the Middle Ages, the source of cinnamon remained a mystery to the Western world. From reading Latin writers who quoted Herodotus, Europeans had learned that cinnamon came up the Red Sea to the trading ports of Egypt, but where it came from was less than clear.

Cinnamon has a long history of use in traditional medicine as a digestive aid. However, contemporary studies are unable to find evidence of any significant medicinal or therapeutic effect.