Medicinal properties of ‘true’ cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum): a systematic review

Ranasinghe P, Pigera S, Premakumara GAS, Galappaththy P, Constantine GR, Katulanda P · BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies · 2013 October 22

DOI 10.1186/1472-6882-13-275

Objective

This paper aims to systematically review the scientific literature and provide a comprehensive summary on the potential medicinal benefits of CZ.

Conclusions

The available in-vitro and in-vivo evidence suggests that CZ has anti-microbial, anti-parasitic, anti-oxidant and free radical scavenging properties.

Critical Appraisal

Published research can offer valuable insights, but a paper’s conclusions may go beyond what its results support. Critical appraisal examines the methods, findings and limitations to clarify what can reasonably be concluded—and what remains uncertain.

This article has not yet been critically appraised by the Research Hub.

Learn more about Critical Appraisal

Insights

Cinnamomum Zeylanicum shows potential medicinal effects such as reducing blood glucose levels and possessing anti-microbial properties.

The researchers conducted a thorough systematic review using databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, and SciVerse Scopus. The documents considered were those published before December 31, 2012. Keywords like "Cinnamomum zeylanicum", "Ceylon cinnamon", "True cinnamon", and "Sri Lankan cinnamon" were used to filter the studies. Furthermore, a manual search was performed in the reference lists to add more relevant studies. The review discovered numerous benefits of CZ. After excluding duplicate articles, a total of 70 studies were analysed. These studies pointed to medicinal benefits such as anti-microbial and anti-parasitic activity, lowering blood glucose levels, reducing blood pressure and serum cholesterol, antioxidant properties, and an ability to inhibit symptoms of Alzheimer's. Other listed benefits included reducing the effects of osteoporosis and gastric ulcers, anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties, aiding wound healing, and having liver-protecting effects, all with minimal toxic and adverse effects reported.