Comparative study on chemical characteristics of essential oils and genetic characteristics of true Cinnamon ( Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume) and three wild Cinnamon species of Sri Lanka

The present study reports for the first time a comprehensive gas chromatography coupled to flame ionisation detector and mass spectrometry detection of the essential oils from leaf, stem-bark and root bark of three wild Cinnamomum species collected from Sinharaja and Kanneliya Forests in Sri Lanka together with cultivated cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum). DNA barcoding has been carried out to identify and distinguish wild cinnamon species from commercial cinnamon species. Predominant compounds in stem bark oil were trans-Cinnamaldehyde [C. zeylanicum (68.3%)], β-linalool [Cinnamomum capparu-coronde (44.5%], β-phellandrene [Cinnamomum dubium (24.7%)] or menthol, 1'-(butyn-3-one-1-yl) [Cinnamomum sinharajaense (17.7%)]. The predominant constituents in leaf oil were eugenol [C. zeylanicum (83.0%) and C.capparu-coronde (71.6%)], β-phellandrene [C. dubium (39.9%)] or palmitic acid [C. sinharajaense. (79.8%)]. In oil extracted from root bark, the principal constituents were either camphor [C. zeylanicum (51.1%)], methyl eugenol [C. sinharajaense (82.2%) and C. dubium (84.2%)] or safrole [C. capparu-coronde (58.6%)].