Cinnamon Bark
Cinnamon Bark
Cinnamomum cassia
“The bark of the kanpo cabinet”
| Species | Cinnamomum cassia |
|---|---|
| Family | Lauraceae |
| Part used | Bark of the trunk |
| Aroma | Sweet and warm, from cinnamaldehyde |
What is keihi?
Keihi is the trunk bark of Cinnamomum cassia (Lauraceae), Chinese cassia. It is listed in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia as the crude drug keihi (Cinnamomi Cortex). The dried thin branches of the same tree are called by a different name, keishi. The tree is native to southern China and widely cultivated across South and Southeast Asia. According to the Tokyo Crude Drugs Association, keihi has long been formulated into kampo prescriptions concerned with sweating, pain and flushing, and has been treated as an aromatic stomachic in crude-drug preparations. It appears in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia extract monographs for kakkon-to and juzen-taiho-to, and the Japan Kampo Medicines Manufacturers Association describes it as entering more than fifty kampo formulas. Its aroma is led by cinnamaldehyde, which the Pharmacopoeia uses as an identification marker.
Japan's own nikkei is a different tree
The scent familiar from yatsuhashi sweets and nikki candy comes from nikkei (Cinnamomum sieboldii), a species endemic to Japan, growing wild on Tokunoshima and in northern Okinawa Island. Unlike keihi, which uses the bark, nikkei is dug up for its root. From the Edo period it was cultivated in Wakayama, Kochi, Kumamoto and Kagoshima. Nikkei was listed in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia as “Japanese cinnamon bark” up to the sixth revision, but was dropped once it left circulation and no longer appears.
A component of the kanpo blends used in yakuso saunas, simmered with the other crude drugs and turned into steam. Facilities list it as either keihi or cinnamon.
Familiar in yatsuhashi, nikki candy and nikki water, and as a scent for Western sweets and drinks.
Note: this page introduces the traditions and culture around the plant. It does not guarantee any effect.