ABSTRACT
Based on their action on the human senses, plant-derived essential oils have functioned as sources of food, preservatives, medicines, symbolic articles in religious and social ceremonies, and remedies to modify behavior. In many cases, essential oils and extracts gained widespread acceptance as multifunctional agents due to their strong stimulation of the human gustatory (taste) and olfactory (smell) senses. Cinnamon oil exhibits a pleasing warm spicy aftertaste, characteristic spicy aroma, and preservative properties that made it attractive as a food flavoring and fragrance. Four millennia ago, 254cinnamon oil was the principal ingredient of a holy ointment mentioned in Exodus 32:22–26. Because of its perceived preservative properties, cinnamon and cinnamon oil were sought by Egyptians for embalming. According to Dioscorides (Dioscorides, 50 AD), cinnamon was a breath freshener, would aid in digestion, would counteract the bites of venomous beasts, reduced inflammation of the intestines and the kidneys, and acted as a diuretic. Applied to the face, it was purported to remove undesirable spots. It is not surprising, then, that in 1000 bc, cinnamon was more expensive than gold.
