Spices and Condiments

Varieties

• The National Conservatory of Cassia Germplasm consists of 262 accessions. In India there are some varieties like pat or mat-pat and kurunchi which are considered the best for cultivation. In Sri Lanka there are two popular varieties locally known as 'Sweet Cinnamon' and 'Honey Cinnamon'. Camphor cinnamon, Snake cinnamon, Astringent cinnamon, etc., are some of the others. Konkan Tej, and Yercaud-1 (YCD-1) have been released for commercial cultivation in the Konkan region and Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, respectively. Among the other improved varieties `Navashree' and `Nityashree' have also been released by the Indian Institute of Spice Research, Calicut. RRL (B) C-6 is another improved variety.

Navashree
Navashree is a superior selection. It has a high and stable regeneration capacity (6-7 shoots/ year), high yield (average yield 56 kg/ha in the first 4 years), high bark recovery (40.6%), and excellent bark characteristics (bark oil 2.7% with a very good cinnamaldehyde content of 37%, bark oleoresin 8%, leaf oil 2.8%). Its very young flushes are purple, which turn green in 7-10 days. It is recommended for cultivation both in the plains and high altitudes.

Nityasree
Nityashree is also a good stable selection, which produces 4-5 shoots per year and the average yield is 54 kg/ha in the first four harvests. The bark contains 2.7% oil, 10% oleoresin and 3% leaf oil with a very good eugenol content of 78%. The young flushes are purple in colour and turn green in just 2 days. This variety is also recommended for both the hills and plains.

YCD-1
This is a selection made at AICRPS, Yercaud (TNAU). The variety is ready for harvest after 3 years of planting and its economic life-span is 20 years. The bark yield is high (359.8 kg/ha; 3800 kg leaf yield/ ha) with a recovery of 35.3%. The quills and the leaves contain 2.8 and 3.0% essential oil, respectively. The plants have a good regeneration capacity. The quills are sweetish-bitter in taste. This variety is recommended for places that receive 100-200 cm of rainfall and have about 500-1000 m elevation.