DARCHINI

English            :           Cinnamon/Ceylon cinnamon

Urdu                :           Darchini/Dalchini

Telugu             :           Lavanga-patta/Dalchini

Description: It is  a hardy plant which can grow on any soil but the quality of bark is different as influenced by the soil and ecological factors.In Ceylo, the finest quality of cinnamon bark is obtained from plants raised on white sandy soil.

Ceylon cinnamon is an evergreen tree usually 6-7 m or sometimes more high. The leaves are long,leathery, shining green on the upper surface on maturity. They have a spicy odour and a hot taste. The flowers have a foetid disagreeable smell. The fruit is a dark-purple and single-seeded. The bark of tender shoots and stems is smooth and pale while that of old braches is Rough and brown.

The bark obtained from the central braches is superior to that from the outer shoots. The bark from the base is inferior. Plants are usually raised from seeds.

Action and Uses:

Cinnamon bark is aromatic, anti-septic, astrignent,stomachic,carminative,anti-spasmodic and stimulant.

It is used in gastric upset, dyspepsia, atony of stomach , palpitation, spastic colon, flatulent colic and chronic diarrhoea.

It possesses the property of checking nausea and vomiting. Cinnamon oil is aromatic, anti-septic, hot and stimulant. It is used externally in cold headache,rheumatic pain and toothache.

Ibn Sina’s View:

It is warming and deobstruent,diuretic,emmenagogue,and expectorant. It is useful in cold,cough and catarrh; hepatic obstruction and dropsy; and uterine and renal pains. It is applied on freckless, acne, ringworm and ulcer. It is also applied on fore-head in cold headaches.