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Title: Cassia Cinnamon as a source of Coumarin in cinnamon-flavored food and food supplements in the United States

Author
item WANG, YAN-HONG - University Of Mississippi
item AVULA, BHARATHI - University Of Mississippi
item NANAYAKKARA, N.P. DHAMMIKA - University Of Mississippi
item ZHAO, JIANPING - University Of Mississippi
item KHAN, IKHLAS - University Of Mississippi

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/11/2013
Publication Date: 4/12/2013
Citation: Wang, Y., Avula, B., Nanayakkara, N., Zhao, J., Khan, I.A. 2013. Cassia Cinnamon as a source of Coumarin in cinnamon-flavored food and food supplements in the United States. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 61:4470-4476.

Interpretive Summary: A developed UPLC-UV/MS method for quantitative and qualitative analysis of coumarin, cinnamyl alcohol, cinnamaldehyde, cinnamic acid, eugenol and cinnamyl acetate was found to be capable of giving faster retention times and better resolution than that achieved with conventional HPLC. From 65 analyzed cinnamon samples including different types of cinnamon foods, it was found that coumarin contents in cinnamon foods of USA were higher than TDI amounts suggested by EFSA. In addition, the contents of major compounds from four authentic Cinnamomum species were compared. Indonesian cassia C. burmannii, an adulterant of true cinnamon C. verum, was confirmed that it is the most commonly used cinnamon to flavor processed food in USA.

Technical Abstract: Cinnamon is one of the most popular flavoring agents in the United States. Some cinnamon varieties and cinnamon flavored food sold in US could be potential sources of coumarin. Coumarin is banned from food in the United States due to its potential adverse side effects. An ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a PDA detector and a mass spectrometry (UPLC-UV/MS) method has been developed to characterize coumarin (1), cinnamyl alcohol (2), cinnamaldehyde (3), cinnamic acid (4), eugenol (5) and cinnamyl acetate (6) in Cinnamomum species. This method was validated in terms of precision, accuracy and linearity. This method was used to analyze authenticated cinnamon bark samples, as well as commercial cinnamon samples, cinnamon flavored food and cinnamon based food supplements. These results confirmed previous Europe results that C. verum bark contained only traces of coumarin whereas barks from other three species C. aromaticum, C. loureiroi and C. burmannii contained substantial amounts of coumarin. All the cinnamon samples and cinnamon flavored food obtained from local grocery stores contained coumarin, confirming cassia cinnamon to be a source of coumarin in the American diet. Chemical profiles showed that most of the cinnamon used to flavor processed food in USA is most probably the bark of C. burmannii commonly known as Indonesian cassia. Trade data support this conclusion.