Saigon cinnamon | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Magnoliids |
Order: | Laurales |
Family: | Lauraceae |
Genus: | Cinnamomum |
Species: | C. loureiroi
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Binomial name | |
Cinnamomum loureiroi |
Saigon cinnamon (Cinnamomum loureiroi, also known as Vietnamese cinnamon or Vietnamese cassia and quế trà my, quế thanh, or " quế trà bồng" in Vietnam) is an evergreen tree indigenous to mainland Southeast Asia. Saigon cinnamon is more closely related to cassia (C. cassia) than to Ceylon cinnamon (C. verum), 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.
The scientific name was originally spelled as Cinnamomum loureirii, but because the species is named after the botanist João de Loureiro, this is to be treated under the ICN as an orthographic error for the correctly derived spelling of loureiroi.[1]
Saigon cinnamon contains the second highest amount of coumarin of all the four Cinnamomum species sold as cinnamon (after Indonesian cinnamon), with one study detecting 6.97 g/kg in an authenticated sample.[2] Coumarin is moderately toxic to the liver and kidneys, and minor neurological dysfunction was found in children exposed to coumarin during pregnancy.[3]