Nutritional Value and Volatile Composition of Leaf and Bark of Cinnamomum tamala from Uttarakhand (India)

Abstract

Cinnamomum tamala leaf and bark are very popular for their used as spices due to its spicy odour. The plant leaf and bark are also used widely in pharmaceutical preparation because of therapeutic and nutritive efficacy against various diseases and disorders due to presence of different phytochemicals and mineral nutrients. The leaf and bark samples of C. tamala were collected from Uttarakhand and cinnamon bark from market and analyzed for proximate, minerals content and essential oil compositions. The results revealed that the C. tamala leaves and bark collected from Uttarakhand was the most superior in proximate values (total ash, dietary fibre, protein and fat content), vitamins (ascorbic acid, niacin and traces in riboflavin and folates) and minerals nutrients content (macro nutrients like Ca, Mg, P, K and Na and micro nutrients like Fe and Zn content) as compared to leaf and bark samples collected from the market. Whereas, in case of essential oil composition, both leaf and bark samples of C. tamala collected from Uttarakhand and bark samples C. tamala collected from market were found rich in cinnamaldehyde (68.66%, 64.79% and 90.48% respectively), while, leaf samples of C. tamala collected from market was rich in eugenol (72.6%).