There are many plants with valuable inputs to human beings although it all depends on how people utilize them. Also, many plants have a rich history with interesting facts about their origins and how they came to be abundant in the places that they grow in the present day. The case of cinnamon is not different. Like in the other known plants with both economic and health benefits, cinnamon has both biblical and scientific connections, a fact that shows it to be among the most traditional plants that human beings have used for long. Besides its medicinal and economic values, the plant also has beauty purposes.
The common name for the plant is Cinnamon while the family name is Lauraceae. Regarding its origins, it is elemental to put in the back of the mind that it is one of the plants with foundations in the ancient world. Its origins have even biblical references, and they came to become trade spices of the early days even before the building of the pyramids. In particular, the English name; that is, cinnamon has its derivation from the Hebrew word kannamon that has a citation in various old books of the Bible such as in Psalms, Proverbs and the Revelations (Synan, 2013). It was and remains a plant with a prime importance to many mostly due to its specialty regarding health and economic value.
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On the other hand, the scientific name for cinnamon is Cinnamomum Zeylanicum. The name comes from the bark of an evergreen tree where people obtains the product and originates from the Laurel family (Spiegel, 2014). In connection, even if it grows in many parts of the world, it variation regarding contents and methods of production significantly changes across places as its first farming and production areas change. The meaning of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum has mostly to do with the aromatic bark that people use for medicinal, beauty, and economic essentials.
Country of origin and introduction to western world
It is no doubt that many people in today’s world are well conversant with the exceptional taste of cinnamon. It is a plant with many uses and benefits the countries that grow it in significant ways. About its origin, the plant’s species comes from Sri Lanka. It is native to Burma as well as the Southern coastal strip of India. The best and admirable quality of cinnamon grows in Sri Lanka; that is Cassia. In other words, it translates to the evergreen tree that gives the raw products for the production of the pure form cinnamon.
It is often possible to sit back and ponder about how cinnamon became a common plant in areas like South America and the Caribbean where there is a significant distance from its origin lands. As the situation reflects, it is somewhat hard to correctly connect cinnamon with its first production areas due to the massive production in countries like the United States. Although it is native to Sri Lanka and India, cinnamon came to reach other places as the global trade expanded as well as during the agricultural revolution era (Synan, 2013). They are the two most important effects that saw the exchange of commodities and farming skills from one place to the other hence the distribution of agricultural skills and products. However, to be more specific, the people responsible for distribution of cinnamon were the Arabs who moved extensively around the Europe in the Middle Ages. They carried with them cinnamon in cumbersome loads, which eventually saw its supply to other parts of the world (Synan, 2013)
However, just as in other cases with discovery connections, cinnamon is also a case to do with past historical breakthroughs. It was until around 1518 that Portuguese traders discovered cinnamon in Ceylon, which is the present day Sri Lanka. As a result, they conquered the area for a significant period and enslaved the island’s population especially in Kotto for production labour (Synan, 2013). However, it didn’t last for long since the Dutch overwhelmed them although they take the credit with all to do with cinnamon discovery in Sri Lanka.
Production Practices
The critical step towards its production all starts with allowing the plant to reach its maturity. When a cinnamon tree reaches two years approximately, the cultivators of the plant get involved in a process called coppicing; that is, cutting back the plant to a size equal to a stump and cover it with soil. It is one of the crucial breakthroughs that enhance quick and voluminous production since the plant grows like a bush after that. Many shoots emerge in the succeeding year, and they are the ones that the cultivators use to make cinnamon.
Indeed, one obtains cinnamon from the plant after drying the central part of the bark. After that, it is sold in powdered form and used for various purposes. In extraction as a process, the cinnamon oil comes from extracting the waste products of the drying and pointed black fruits that the tree produces. In fact, this is the oil that sees its use in medicinal purposes or flavouring among other uses of cinnamon. For the people in the United States, they commonly buy the Cinnamomum Zeylanicum as a source for the cinnamon that they use in various cases. About contents, cinnamon, is no doubt that it contains essentials such as cinnamic aldehyde, essential oils, and others such as Eugenol, sucrose, starch, and tannin (Bocco, 2009).
After cutting, the cultivators strip the bark of the shoots. The peels are then left to dry in the sun. It is in its entirety a natural process since the bark takes the required time to dry in a natural climate without interventions of conditioned temperatures. After some time, the bark naturally curves into quills for further processing and sale (Bocco, 2009). In particular, after the bark curls naturally into the recommended strips, the farmers then cut them into sizeable sticks, but they can also crush them into powder, as it happens in many cases. It all depends on what the potential market recommends.
Economic importance and amount produced
Cinnamon has many uses ranging from health, beauty essentials as well as economic significance. Regarding the United States, the most particular way that the country benefits economically is through exports. In the world today, there are two types of commercial cinnamon: Ceylon and cassia cinnamon. Unfortunately, the United States is yet to dominate these markets since Indonesia is the leading producer of cassia cinnamon, while a more expensive type; the Ceylon cinnamon is a particular case to do with Sri Lanka. However, the country is doing magnificently to control this dominance and is benefiting significantly from increased exports, which is one way to enhance its global market competition. Regarding the amount produced, it is crucial to note that in 2015, cinnamon exports reached up to $469.8 million, a number that translated to 138.6% of the production in four years ago. In this production, the United States accounted for $9.3 million of production, which is roughly 2% of the exports (Workman, 2016). As such, it is a justification of the country’s increased determination to perform in the international market.
In summary and conclusion, it is no doubt that the required final product for cinnamon comes primarily from the species known as Cinnamomum zeylanicum. As the situation stands, it is evident that the present producers that dominate the market are still the original areas where the discoverers found the plant; that is Sri Lanka and Indonesia. However, regardless of the area that produces cinnamon, the plant has many uses since it is possible to use to it for beauty, health, and as an export. As such, it is one of the plants that its bark has valuable inputs to the life of people if they have the knowledge to cultivate and process it.
Bibliography
Bocco, D., 2009. How Cinnamon Works: Harvesting and Production of Cinnamon . HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/botany/cinnamon1.htm
Spiegel, A., 2014. The Truth About Where Cinnamon Comes From . The Huffington Post.
Synan, M., 2013. Cinnamon’s Spicy History . Hungry History. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/cinnamons-spicy-history
Workman, D., 2016. Cinnamon Exports by Country . World Top Exports. Retrieved from http://www.worldstopexports.com/cinnamon-exporters/
