How to distinguish natural cinnamon from a fake. Application and storage

In the Middle East, cinnamon is used in spicy chicken or lamb dishes. In America, cinnamon is added to porridge, fruits, especially apples.
Cinnamon is also used in canning, adding to marinades.

What is cinnamon? There are many types - Ceylon, spicy, Chinese, Malabar ...

Consider the two most popular types

CEYLON CINNAMON - the best. Its homeland is Sri Lanka, Java, Brazil, cultivated in China.

Cinnamon is considered the better, the thinner the bark. Ceylon cinnamon is lighter, very subtle.

The taste is sweet and pungent. The aroma is bright and delicate.

Real cinnamon is lighter, in yellowish tones, very thin (in sticks), has a sweet-burning, very bright aroma.

CASSIA, second most popular Indonesian cinnamon, it is also called "fake".

Homeland South China, cultivated in China, Indonesia.

The color of cassia is dark red, the bark is much thicker than that of Ceylon. The smell is not as strong, but more pungent.

Unlike Ceylon, Chinese cinnamon - Cassia, is much cheaper.

World production of Ceylon cinnamon is about 10,000 tons per year, with 80-90% produced in Sri Lanka.
The world production of cassia is several times greater - 25,000 tons per year, two thirds of which are grown in Indonesia.

The industry often uses substitutes for cinnamon. This is bay cinnamon, Burmese cinnamon. The bark of these species is much thicker, coarser, but has a pleasant aroma.

As substitutes for cinnamon, immature dried seeds of cinnamon trees are sold, as well as an artificial substitute - cinnamon extract.
Tansy also acts as a substitute for cinnamon. Tansy grows throughout Europe, in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, China, Japan and Korea.

All types of cinnamon, to a greater or lesser extent, contain the substance coumarin.

CASSIA (“fake” cinnamon) contains many times more coumarin than CEYLON cinnamon. Scientists believe that the acceptable intake is 0.1 mg per 1 kg of body weight.

If you take a standard bag of Chinese cinnamon weighing 15 g, then it will contain about 65 mg of coumarin.

That is, a day you can use no more than ½ teaspoon for an adult (children 3 times less).

If the cinnamon is not labeled as "fake cinnamon" or "Indonesian cinnamon", then you can check its authenticity by dropping a solution of iodine into it.
Real cinnamon will be slightly colored, cassia will give a rich blue color, due to the presence of a large amount of starch.

Cinnamon is not only a flavor enhancer

Medicinal properties of cinnamon lie in its aroma, which is able to improve memory, stimulate the brain, increase efficiency.

Healing effect of cinnamon manifests itself in stimulating blood circulation, which is especially useful for hypothermia, colds, diseases of the joints and spine.

Cinnamon has a high antioxidant effect. Eliminates the syndrome of intoxication.

Cinnamon stimulates metabolism prevents the accumulation of excess weight. It is indicated for diabetes mellitus, it improves the body's response to insulin and normalizes blood sugar levels.

Cinnamon essential oil also has antimicrobial properties.

Cinnamon oil is a classic antidote, which alleviates the condition in case of poisoning: food, alcohol, nicotine.

For information, the nutritional value of a teaspoon (3 g) of cinnamon:

Calorie content 7.7 kcal
Carbohydrates 0.8 g
Dietary fiber 1.6 g
Magnesium 1.8 mg
Calcium 13 mg

In more detail the chemical composition of cinnamon

Hello everyone!

I am a big fan of cinnamon. I constantly add it when cooking, brew tea with it, mix it with honey, and also often use it for home cosmetics.

And I describe all these my recipes here, in my blog.

Recently, I have received a lot of letters with the same question: why does mucus form when preparing cinnamon with honey, as well as when brewing it?

So I decided to answer here, all at once!

This is because you are using a bad variety of cinnamon, which can also be called fake cinnamon.

Real cinnamon - how to distinguish from a fake?

Cinnamon is a super useful spice. It relieves inflammatory processes in the body, has antiseptic and bactericidal effects.

It is an antioxidant, a means to improve blood circulation and weight loss, cleanse the blood, consciousness, and it is also an energy spice that improves life!

Really great!?

But, far from any bag of this spice bought in stores is able to give us all the useful properties that real cinnamon has.

Now I will tell you how to distinguish good cinnamon from bad. Actually, it's not that hard.)

Types of cinnamon

Today, the most popular types of cinnamon are:

Ceylon or Cinnamon from Sri Lanka
Chinese or Indian
Malabar or Wood Cinnamon
cinnamon

CEYLON CINNAMON

(cinnamomum ceylanicum)

Ceylon, noble or real cinnamon.

This is the most valuable species in quality superior to all others.

It is this variety of cinnamon that will bring enormous benefits to our body, heal it, give beauty and joy.

The homeland of this variety, as you can easily guess, is Sri Lanka, the sunny island of Ceylon, and this type of cinnamon is also grown in India, Indonesia, Brazil and other subtropical countries.

This cinnamon comes from the inner bark of the Ceylon cinnamon tree.

A distinctive feature of Ceylon cinnamon is its sweetish, slightly burning, warming taste and very delicate aroma, as well as a thickness that can hardly reach 1 mm, as well as the fact that it is very tightly rolled into sticks.

CHINESE CINNAMON OR CASSIA

This variety of cinnamon is also called plain cinnamon, Indian cinnamon, fragrant cinnamon, cassia, cassia canel.

Sometimes it is called fake cinnamon, which is not entirely true. This is also cinnamon.

Cassia is currently cultivated in China, Burma, Laos, and Indonesia.

The bark for the preparation of this variety of cinnamon is removed from Chinese cinnamon trees that have reached the age of seven, in contrast to Ceylon cinnamon, which is obtained from the bark of one to three-year-old shoots of a cinnamon tree.

Therefore, during drying, such a bark acquires a concave shape and a rough surface, and its thickness is from 1.5-2 cm and a granular fracture.

It is cassia that is most often sold in our stores, both in sticks and in powder.

Also, the characteristic features of this cinnamon, which distinguish it from Ceylon, are a reddish-brown color, a more burning, tart taste, and the absence of a delicate aroma.

When infused in water, cassia forms a slime, which is another difference between this variety and Ceylon cinnamon.

Ceylon cinnamon and Cassia

There are two other types of cinnamon that are also not considered particularly valuable, and which can also be confused with Ceylon cinnamon.

MALABARI CINNAMON

In another way, this type of cinnamon is called brown cinnamon, wood cinnamon or cassia vera. Its homeland is India and Burma.

The main distinguishing feature of this cinnamon from all other types is a dark brown color and a sharply bitter taste.

CINNAMON - SPICY CINNAMON

The source of this type of cinnamon is the shoots of the Cinnamon shrub. Such bushes are grown on the plantations of the Moluccas.

The main distinguishing feature of this type of cinnamon is a strong pungent smell, burning taste, increased fragility and granularity at the break.

CONCLUSION

Naturally, as you already understood, the best variety for use in medicine and cooking will be real noble Ceylon cinnamon.

It is this variety that has the most valuable chemical composition, is a component for the production of valuable cinnamon essential oil.

It is she who should be given preference when buying, preferably choosing an organic natural product with a good shelf life.

Therefore, try to buy cinnamon not in powder, but in sticks. In packages through which it can be seen, and on which the period of preparation of the spice is indicated, or at least its expiration date. After all, cinnamon, after a year of storage, loses all its beneficial properties and aroma.

I hope I was able to explain how to distinguish real cinnamon from not quite real. Check yourself, where is cassia and where is cinnamon? :-)

In cooking and folk medicine, cinnamon and cassia are constantly used. They have unique taste and medicinal qualities. However, even modern housewives, hardened by television and the Internet, do not always determine the difference between these two representatives of oriental spices. How not to get lost in search of the best option? Are there significant differences between them?

In fact, cassia is also cinnamon, but its least useful and tasty variety. The spice is obtained by cutting the inner thin layer of bark from the shoots of an evergreen tree called Cinnamon. Cinnamon bark is dried and rolled into tubes, then cut and crushed. In shops and markets, consumers can choose either straws or powder.

The first option is considered more preferable - it retains aroma and taste longer, has a rich chemical composition and, for this reason, is successfully used in traditional medicine. The powder may already be old, in the crushed form the spice loses its consumer qualities very quickly, plus the type of cinnamon in the powder is difficult to determine.

So, the most common types of spices on our shelves:

natural Ceylon cinnamon from Sri Lanka or Western India, Cinnamomum zeylanicyn, which is usually called "cinnamon";
"fake", cheap cinnamon or cassia, Cinnamomum aromaticum from China, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Ceylon spice is considered to be of higher quality, because it uses the inner valuable layer of young shoots up to 3 years of age, and for cassia, the entire bark is cut off from old shoots aged 7-10 years. The “fake” spice contains a lot of fragrant, but toxic coumarin, popularly nicknamed “rat poison”, which is harmful to children and not very useful for adults.

Therefore, cassia can be dangerous if eaten in significant dosages, and spices are often used in the preparation of cookies or buns, eaten quickly and in large quantities by babies. Moms should know how to choose the right cinnamon so that homemade treats do no harm to anyone.

Differences in the types of spices are no less significant if you want to make a tincture, rubbing, or just drink a cup of hot milk with spices at night for a cold.

Real and not real spice

How to understand the difference between cinnamon and cassia when buying? Probably, often each of us bought spice powder in the store. Manufacturers do not always indicate what the raw materials were, so take the spice in the form of tubes in specialized stores.

The structure of real Ceylon cinnamon sticks is multi-layered, it resembles a roll of paper towels in miniature, in a soft brown hue.
Real cinnamon breaks and crumbles like shortbread cookies, has a delicate aroma and taste.
The cassia tube looks like a ram's horn, it has few layers inside, the color is rich brown, the texture is rough, there may be growths, the walls are thick. Smell and taste with unpleasant bitterness, sharp.
The price of real cinnamon is three to four times higher than that of cassia.
In general, Ceylon cinnamon has a more natural look, smell and taste, while cassia has these parameters reminiscent of artificial ones.

If you don’t have to choose, the product is already on your shelf, and you want to determine the quality of the spice in powder, then a medical assistant will help you with wounds and suppuration. Dissolve a little powder in water and drop ordinary iodine there. The solution turned blue or black - in front of you is cassia. Color brown - natural spice. Another way is to brew the powder with boiling water. A quality product will not cloud the water too much, but cassia will make the water very cloudy, because the starch content in it is higher than in natural cinnamon.

Is cassia useful

Cassia is mostly scolded, and objectively, in large doses and regular use, it has more harmful than positive effects on the body. However, some peoples use the “fake” cinnamon to treat a variety of ailments. For example, in Chinese folk medicine, it is used to treat malfunctions in the gastrointestinal tract with a tendency to constipation, glaucoma, swelling, and headaches. Cassia improves blood flow and disinfects, so it is brewed and washed with infusion of wounds, eyes with conjunctivitis, skin with eczema and acne.

Cinnamon and cassia are similar in composition, action, and appearance, but it is much preferable if you are using the spice as a medicine or adding it to your meals often, to buy only the real kind. This is a more expensive, but high-quality and useful option for you and your loved ones.

Freshly baked buns, over which a warm cinnamon aroma hovers, will certainly remind everyone of childhood and mom's unforgettable pastries. Few people know that cinnamon, in addition to the delicious smell, also has a lot of advantages, it is often used in home cosmetics and even traditional medicine. Before heading to the store, you need to know how to distinguish cinnamon from cassia, which is not so useful and can cause a lot of health problems.

What is cassia, how to distinguish a fake

Cassia is a spice that smells very similar to cinnamon. Often, out of ignorance, these two spices are successfully confused, without even suspecting that in this way you can harm your health, because they differ significantly in the amount of useful substances. There are a few tricks on how to tell cinnamon from cassia. Armed with this knowledge, you can safely go to the store - the purchase of a fake is completely excluded.

A common feature of both spices is the presence of coumarin in them, which is unhealthy. Its active consumption can lead to dangerous complications:

dizziness;
headaches;
prolonged diarrhea;
nausea.

While the real spice contains only a small amount of this dangerous substance, the fake spice is simply teeming with it. When used in moderation, cassia will not bring much harm, but if you abuse this product, you will soon have to wonder where the unpleasant and disturbing symptoms of malaise come from. There is one way to prevent this - to figure out what cassia is, how to distinguish a fake and how much spice can be used in cooking.

How to tell real cinnamon from cassia

Cassia is a spice made from the bark of the Chinese cinnamon. The plant does not grow in natural conditions, it is specially grown in order to get a cheap seasoning. To obtain a product, the bark is removed from the tree (it is imperative to do this during the rainy season, this not only facilitates the work, but also does not injure the plant). The extracted raw materials are cut into small strips, which, after drying, resemble cinnamon sticks not only in appearance, but also in aroma.

Cinnamon is the bark of trees that grow only in Sri Lanka. To obtain a valuable product, young shoots are used, from which only the inner part of the bark, which is distinguished by a delicate texture, is removed. After drying under hot sunlight, the raw materials are twisted by hand into tubes, which are used when added to dishes. Due to such a long process, the cost of a real spice is quite high.

How to distinguish cinnamon from cassia? It is not as difficult as many people think, it is enough to look at the incense sticks that are offered in the store. If they are wrapped like a tube, from a thin sheet, it is most likely that this is a real spice. If the stick looks like just a piece of bark, you should not buy it - it's probably a fake. Before you can distinguish real cinnamon from cassia, you definitely need to smell it - the fake spice has pronounced bitter notes in the aroma.

Cinnamon sticks, how to distinguish

So, if cinnamon sticks are purchased, how to distinguish a fake and purchase a truly healthy and fragrant product? Knowing exactly how the spice is produced, you can determine if they are offering a fake.

It is enough to simply distinguish the original seasoning, if it is possible to hold it in your hands, for this it is enough to try to unfold the tube. If this is easy to do and a thin sheet remains in your hands, which strives to acquire its original shape, you can safely make a purchase. If the spice does not give in to efforts and remains a stick without turning around, it is better to go to another store.

It is quite easy to identify the original by touch, but what if there is no way to hold the product in your hands, or, even worse, it is in the package? Here, for the most part, you will have to rely on the integrity of the manufacturers. The packaging must certainly clearly indicate whether it is the original spice or cassia.

How to distinguish ground cinnamon from cassia powder

When purchasing a ground spice, the risk of stumbling upon a fake increases several times, some manufacturers even manage to mix these two products, naturally, there will be much less cinnamon powder. Don't worry - there is an easy way to check the authenticity of a product at home.

How to distinguish ground cinnamon from cassia powder? You can do this experiment:

Pour some powder into a spoon.
Drop a little iodine on the product.
Wait a few seconds.
Check the shade of the powder.

If the product has changed its shade and turned jet black, with a blue overflow, it is probably cassia. If the color of the powder is blue or dark blue - this is real cinnamon, you can safely use it in culinary recipes, home cosmetology or folk remedies. A fake should only be used in baking or in dishes, but do not forget that its amount should be much less than indicated in the recipes.

How to tell Ceylon cinnamon from cassia

Ceylon cinnamon is the only natural original product that has a lot of advantages and has a unique spicy aroma. It is this spice that is recommended to be purchased for the treatment or care of hair, body or face. How to distinguish Ceylon cinnamon from cassia, which is only recommended for culinary use?

The only way to do this right in the store is to carefully examine the sticks. A natural product resembles a small dense papyrus scroll, usually it consists of several turns that are perfectly visible. Cassia does not have such a bizarre shape - at best, it will only have one turn or even just wrapped edges.

You can try, if the seller allows, to break the stick. Most often, permission is not given for this, so you can purchase several rolls for the experiment. If, when trying to break the product, it directly crumbles in your hands, this is probably the original. Cassia has a not so fragile structure, and it will not be possible to break or crumble it - it will simply bend.

How to distinguish natural cinnamon from cassia

Natural cinnamon and Ceylon product are one and the same, they are grown and produced in Sri Lanka. If China is the country of origin on the package, then you should not buy the spice - this is probably a fake, the Chinese grow only plants from which cassia is obtained.

How to distinguish natural cinnamon from cassia? This is easy to do if you carefully examine the shade of the sticks. The original does not differ either outside or inside. A pleasant light brown color is evidence that they offer to buy a real spice, with a lot of useful substances, a small amount of coumarin and a delicious aroma.

If the stick is light on the outside, but inside it has a dark brown color, you should not buy the spice, it is definitely a fake. To verify this, you can also look at the dimensions of the tube itself - the original product is much smaller.

It is unlikely that it will be possible to sort out the originality of the powder in the store, so experts advise trying to buy spice in sticks. They are much easier to test and don't require you to purchase a product and go home to experiment. A visual inspection that will help identify a fake can be done right in the store.

Real Ceylon cinnamon is able to fill the house with its aroma, making the evening cozy and calmer. This spice sounds great in various pastries, especially when next to apples and plums, complements coffee with its spicy taste, gives new original notes to meat dishes, etc. However, do you use cinnamon, and what can be in a small bag for this spice instead?

Real cinnamon and fake

Ceylon cinnamon (kinamon) is the bark of the Cinnamomumzeylanicyn plant, which grows in Western India and Sri Lanka. This spice is produced from a thin inner layer of bark cut from three-year-old shoots. The collected raw materials are laid out in an open area and dried in the sun.

Fake cinnamon (cassia) is made from the Cinnamomumaromaticum plant, which is native to Indonesia, China, and Vietnam. This seasoning is made from the bark of old shoots that are 8-9 years old. At the same time, not the tender inner part of the bark, but all of it is used as a raw material. As a result, a spice with much lower quality indicators is obtained.

Main differences

The following characteristics distinguish real Ceylon cinnamon from a fake.

Real Ceylon cinnamon is very fragrant and has high taste qualities, and therefore everyone who has tried it at least once will never forget what this spice should be like. But its main difference from a fake is a small portion of the coumarin content. And if in cassia this substance contains about 2 g / kg, then in kinamone only 0.02 g / kg.

On a note! Coumarin is a harmful substance, large doses of which can cause headaches, dizziness and disturbances in the digestive system. And at the same time, four small cookies with cassia will be dangerous for the health of a preschooler, six for a schoolboy and eight for an adult.

How can you tell if a spice is real?

First of all, you need to inspect the packaging. Usually the manufacturer there honestly indicates from what raw materials this product was produced - from the Cinnamomumaromaticum plant, if this is cassia, or from the Cinnamomumzeylonicum plant, if it is Ceylon cinnamon. But if such an inscription could not be found, then in this case you should look at the country of origin. Sri Lanka is written, which means that you have a real product in front of you, Indonesia, China or Vietnam are indicated - a spice that is more unhealthy.

It is very easy to check the authenticity of cinnamon when the seasoning was purchased in powder form. It is necessary to pour a small amount of it into a teaspoon and drip iodine. If the color of the seasoning turns dark blue, you have cassia, a less saturated shade indicates that you bought Ceylon cinnamon.

However, many experts are inclined to believe that it is better to purchase this seasoning in the form of sticks, since it will be much easier to find differences in this form. For Ceylon cinnamon:

the sticks are painted in a light color evenly, and the shade is the same inside and outside;
the walls are very thin, fragile, they are easy to break with a slight pressure;
real Ceylon cinnamon is a thin sheet of bark rolled into a roll, which resembles papyrus with many curls.

Beneficial features

Ceylon cinnamon has long been used in folk medicine as a healing agent. Modern science is also talking about its beneficial properties. The use of this spice has a positive effect on the work of almost all organs and systems of our body. It contains tannins, minerals, vitamins, essential oils and dietary fiber.

First of all, it should be noted that Ceylon cinnamon, when used in moderation, is unable to harm a healthy person. An exception in this case is individual intolerance.

It will be contraindicated in the following cases:

pregnancy - this spice, especially in large quantities, can provoke uterine contractions, which will lead to premature birth;
breastfeeding period - when the cinnamon taste is transferred to milk, the child does not like it, in addition, this spice can cause allergies in the baby;
cinnamon has the ability to thin the blood, and therefore it is highly discouraged for use with its low coagulability;
spice must be excluded from the menu for acute peptic ulcer and diseases that are accompanied by increased acidity of the stomach;
it has warming properties, and therefore its use at high body temperature can only worsen the condition;
with excessive use, a rash on the skin and the development of puffiness may occur.

Where to find real cinnamon

Since a fake spice is harmful, you want, of course, to protect yourself from health problems. But where can you buy real Ceylon cinnamon? You can endlessly bypass stores, reading labels and trying to break the sticks sealed in them, or choose a spice in an online store. In the latter case, there is also a big risk of purchasing a low-quality product, for which no one will return the money to you after. Here you can be advised to shop in trusted stores with a good reputation.

By the way, today many users recommend Iherb.com. This is an American online store with a positive reputation. In it you can find many natural products, including real Ceylon cinnamon. Moreover, despite the fact that the store is American, as evidenced by the reviews, the prices are quite affordable, and the delivery is cheap.

It’s not worth saving on health, and if you still haven’t managed to get Ceylon cinnamon, then it’s better to completely refuse to use its analogue.