PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS, PHYSIOCHEMICAL ACTIVITY AND ANTIBACTERIAL EFFECTS OF CINNAMON ZEYLANICUM (DALCHINI) EXTRACTS

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), the evergreen tree of tropical area, a member of family Lauraceae, has been used in day to day routine as a spice and condiment in India. Cinnamon is widely used as a spice due to its distinct odour of essential oils. Literature review on cinnamon revealed that it chiefly contains essential oils and all other categories like cinnamic acid, cinnamaldehyde and cinnamate. It has good anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-ulcer, anti-microbial, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic potential. Cinnamon is found very safe and is being used as spice for ages. In the present study the bark of Cinnamon were analysed for the phytochemical, pharmacognostical evaluation and antibacterial activity using standard methods. Phytochemical screening included qualitative chemical examinations and tests for determination of primary and secondary metabolites. Pharmacognostic evaluation included examinations of morphological characters, determination of leaf constant, ash value, powder analysis, and extractive values were carried out. The plant has effective pharmacological action. The medicinal properties of this plant were attributed to its variety of active phytochemical constituents. Although this plant had received interest for the phytochemical investigations since many years, more work has to be done on its isolation and characterization for exploring the immense medicinal potential of this plant.