Diverse pharmacological properties of Cinnamomum cassia: A review

Cinnamomum cassia is widely utilized as a spice in different cookeries worldwide, especially in Asian cuisines. This herb is also being used in different forms of traditional medicine (Unani, Ayurvedic, Japanese and Chinese) for managing conditions like dyspepsia, peptic ulcer disease and ischemic brain injury. Recent studies have shown the scientific evidence for the medicinal use of this particular herb in several diseases like H. pylori infection, diabetes, brain ischemia and cancers. This article reviews the literature on potential benefits of the herb published within the last 10 years. The authors used Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms Cinnamomum with cassia or arromaticum to filter the PubMed database. To date, no systemic review focusing on medicinal use of C. cassia was found in the literature. Various research articles elucidating diverse pharmacological properties of C. cassia were identified. The standardised extract of C. cassia or the active compounds extracted from the herb might prove to be a novel candidate for early prevention and complimentary management of conditions like diabetes mellitus or H. pyloriassociated disorders.