cinnamon (redirected from Kanel)

cinnamon, name for trees and shrubs of the genus Cinnamomum of the family Lauraceae (laurel family). Cinnamon spice comes chiefly from the Sri Lankan cinnamon (C. zeylanicum), now cultivated in several tropical regions. It is obtained by drying the central part of the bark and is marketed as stick cinnamon or in powdered form. The waste and other parts are used for oil of cinnamon, a medicine and flavoring. Cassia, cassia bark, or Chinese cinnamon (C. cassia) was used in China long before true cinnamon but is now considered an inferior substitute. Cinnamon and cassia (often confused) have been favorite spices since biblical times, used also as perfume and incense. Cinnamon is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Magnoliales, family Lauraceae.

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cinnamon

Bushy evergreen tree (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) of the laurel family. Native to Sri Lanka, India, and Burma, cinnamon is also cultivated in South America and the West Indies for the spice consisting of its dried inner bark. The light-brown spice has a delicately fragrant aroma and warm, sweet flavor. It was once more valuable than gold. Today cinnamon is used to flavor various foods. In Europe and the U.S. it is especially popular in bakery goods. The oil is distilled from bark fragments for use in food, liqueur, perfume, and drugs.