Spice from the bark of the cinnamon tree. Of the 270 species of cinnamon trees, four are used as spices and medicinal plants: Ceylon cinnamon from the Ceylonese cinnamon tree, China cinnamon from the Chinese cinnamon tree, Saigon cinnamon and Padang cinnamon.
In Ceylon cinnamon, the true cinnamon, the outer coumarin-containing cork parts are removed and it typically curls up on both sides during drying, see also Cinnamomi ceylandi cortex. Chinese cinnamon from the Chinese cinnamon tree (Cinnamomum aromaticum, cinnamon cassia) has a higher coumarin content, see also Cinnamomi cassiae cortex.
The bark of the Chinese cinnamon tree is relatively inexpensive compared to the bark of the Ceylon cinnamon tree. Cave: high coumarin content! The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment advises using the higher quality Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum J. Presl) as a spice.
Saigon c innamon (Cinnamomum loureirii) is of poorer quality than Ceylon cinnamon and Chinese cinnamon. The bark of the Saigon cinnamon tree is up to 7 mm thick.
Padang cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmanii) originally comes from Indonesia and is cultivated in India, China, Vietnam, Sumatra, Java
and Japan. Its taste is reminiscent of Ceylon cinnamon.