The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used as an herb in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. The flavor that a bay leaf imparts to a dish has not been universally agreed upon, but most agree it is a subtle addition.
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus Cinnamomum. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfast cereals, snack foods, bagels, teas, hot chocolate and traditional foods. The aroma and flavour of cinnamon derive from its essential oil and principal component, cinnamaldehyde, as well as numerous other constituents including eugenol.
Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium aromaticum. They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or fragrance in consumer products, such as toothpaste, soaps, or cosmetics. Cloves are available throughout the year owing to different harvest seasons across various countries.
Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide. They are dicotyledons, and occur mainly in warm temperate and tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America. Many are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but some, such as Sassafras, are deciduous, or include both deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, especially in tropical and temperate climates. The genus Cassytha is unique in the Lauraceae in that its members are parasitic vines. Most laurels are highly poisonous.
Cinnamomum cassia, called Chinese cassia or Chinese cinnamon, is an evergreen tree originating in southern China and widely cultivated there and elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia. It is one of several species of Cinnamomum used primarily for its aromatic bark, which is used as a spice. The buds are also used as a spice, especially in India, and were used by the ancient Romans.
Coumarin or 2H-chromen-2-one is an aromatic organic chemical compound with formula C9H6O2. Its molecule can be described as a benzene molecule with two adjacent hydrogen atoms replaced by an unsaturated lactone ring −(CH)=(CH)−(C=O)−O−, forming a second six-membered heterocycle that shares two carbons with the benzene ring. It belongs to the benzopyrone chemical class and considered as a lactone.
Cinnamomum is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of Cinnamomum have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains approximately 250 species, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania/Australasia. The genus includes a great number of economically important trees used to produce the spice of cinnamon.
Cassia typically refers to cassia bark, the spice made from the bark of East Asian evergreen trees.
Cinnamomum tamala, Indian bay leaf, also known as tejpat, tejapatta,Malabar leaf, Indian bark, Indian cassia, or malabathrum, is a tree in the family Lauraceae that is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. It can grow up to 20 m (66 ft) tall. Its leaves have a clove-like aroma with a hint of peppery taste; they are used for culinary and medicinal purposes. It is thought to have been one of the major sources of the medicinal plant leaves known in classic and medieval times as malabathrum.
Saigon cinnamon is an evergreen tree indigenous to mainland Southeast Asia. Saigon cinnamon is more closely related to cassia than to Ceylon cinnamon, though in the same genus as both. Saigon cinnamon has 1-5% essential oil content and 25% cinnamaldehyde in essential oil. Consequently, among the species, Saigon cinnamon commands a relatively high price.
Phoebe is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. There are 75 accepted species in the genus, distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia and New Guinea. 35 species occur in China, of which 27 are endemic. The first description of the genus was of the type species P. lanceolata made in 1836 by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in Systema Laurinarum, p. 98.
Neocinnamomum is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees, indigenous to Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Cinnamomum osmophloeum, commonly known as pseudocinnamomum or indigenous cinnamon, is a medium-sized evergreen tree in the genus Cinnamomum. It is native to broad-leaved forests of central and northern Taiwan.
Cinnamomum citriodorum is a species of flowering plant in the family Lauraceae. It is commonly known as Malabar Cinnamon. It is an evergreen tree which grows up to 10 metres tall. The species is endemic to central and southwestern Sri Lanka.
Cinnamomum parthenoxylon is an evergreen tree in the genus Cinnamomum, 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall. It is native to South and East Asia.
Cinnamomum verum is a small evergreen tree belonging to the family Lauraceae, native to Sri Lanka. The inner bark of the tree is historically regarded as the 'spice' cinnamon, though this term was later generalized to include C. cassia as well.
Cinnamomum mercadoi (kalingag) is a small tree, about 6 to 10 metres high, with a thick, aromatic bark. The plant part of the family Lauraceae, which contains about 45 genera and 2000-2500 species, and is related to the culinary cinnamon, sassafras, and bay tree. The plant is indigenous to the Philippines, where it grows best in forests at low and medium altitudes that sometimes ascend to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). C. mercadoi is unusual in the cinnamon family in that its essential oil consists large amounts of safrol, whereas other oils of cinnamon contain cinnamaldehyde. It is currently listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as "vulnerable" due to the overharvesting and the continuous loss of the Philippine forests.
Sugandha kokila oil is an essential oil derived from the berries of the evergreen plant Cinnamomum glaucescens, part of the family Lauraceae, which is native to Nepal and grows wild in the districts of Dang, Rolpa, and Sallyan in the Rapti Zone.
Cinnamomum malabatrum, wild cinnamon, country cinnamon also known as malabathrum, is a tree in the family Lauraceae that is endemic to Western Ghats of India. It can grow up to 15 m (49 ft) tall. It has aromatic leaves that are used for culinary and medicinal purposes. It is thought to have been one of the major sources of the medicinal plant leaves known in classic and medieval times as malabathrum. It is locally known as Edana, Therali or Vazhana in Kerala.
