Cinnamon is a spice used worldwide and is recognized as a functional food, historically valued across the globe for its health benefits. . UV spectroscopy was used for the preliminary identification of bioactive classes, and HPLC was used to measure their quantity. The study focused on the bioactive compounds in cinnamon and reported on its antioxidant properties to illustrate how it can be used for health benefits. Analysis of this extract by UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed the presence of a high amount of UV-absorbing compounds (showing strong absorption below 400 nm, likely with λ_max ~280 nm), which strongly suggests the presence of cinnamaldehyde and other phenolic compounds. HPLC was used. The results identified a major compound, Peak 5, at retention time (R.T.) of 3.073 min, constituting 43.99% of the total extract composition. The second most abundant compound was Peak 1 (R.T. = 0.882 min), which comprised 28.26% of the total extract.
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
I designed the study and wrote the initial draft. Muskan conducted the literature review and contributed to data analysis. Sonali assisted in data collection and manuscript editing. Shipi supervised the project and provided critical revisions.
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Graphs were generated using the default software provided with the UV-Vis spectrophotometer and HPLC system. The data were analyzed and saved using the respective instrument software on the connected computer.
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Kalinga university ,Department of chemistry , Guide Shilpi Shrivastava , for their valuable support and guidance throughout the course of this research. We also thank our peers and colleagues for their constructive feedback and encouragement. Special thanks to our families and friends for their constant motivation and understanding during the research process.
1. Dhillon, A., Sardana, S., & Thakkar, A. R. (2023). Development and validation of HPLC and UV spectrophotometric method for the quantification of cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon bark extract. Journal of Natural Remedies. https://doi.org/10.18311/jnr/2023/30836 2. Puspita, O. E., Rifai, B., & Ihsan, P. (2023). Analytical method validation of cinnamaldehyde content in cinnamon extract using HPLC. Journal of Medical Pharmaceutical and Allied Sciences, 12(4), 5976–5982. https://doi.org/10.55522/jmpas.V12I4.5005 3. Pagliari, S., Forcella, M., Lonati, E., et al. (2023). Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect of cinnamon bark extract after in vitro digestion simulation. Foods, 12(3), 452. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12030452 4. Moreno, E. K. G., de Macêdo, I. Y. L., Batista, E. A., et al. (2022). Evaluation of antioxidant potential of commercial cinnamon samples and its vasculature effects. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, Article ID 1992039. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/1992039 5. Ríos-Pérez, M. F., Quintero-Lira, A., Piloni-Martini, J., et al. (2023). Antioxidant capacity and physicochemical characterization of microencapsulated aqueous extracts of cinnamon by spray-dryer. Biointerface Research in Applied Chemistry, 13(6), 537. https://doi.org/10.33263/BRIAC136.537 6. Bandusekara, B. S., Pushpakumara, D. K. N. G., et al. (2025). Intraspecies diversity of bioactive compounds of wild and cultivated Cinnamomum species in Sri Lanka. BMC Agriculture, 1, Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44399-025-00004-y 7. Jayaprakasha, G. K., Ohnishi-Kameyama, M., Ono, H., Yoshida, M., & Rao, L. J. M. (2006). Phenolic constituents in the fruits of Cinnamomum zeylanicum and their antioxidant activity. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54(5), 1672–1679. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf052736r. 8. Archer, A. W. (1988). Determination of cinnamaldehyde, coumarin and cinnamyl alcohol in cinnamon and cassia by high-performance liquid chromatography. Journal of Chromatography A, 447(3), 272–276. https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9673(88)90035-0. 9. Farag, M. A., Khaled, S. E., El Gingeehy, Z., Nabhan, S. N., & Zayed, A. (2022). Comparative metabolite profiling and fingerprinting of medicinal cinnamon bark and its commercial preparations via a multiplex approach of GC–MS, UV, and NMR techniques. Metabolites, 12(7), 614. https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo12070614. 10. Mutlu, M., Bingöl, Z., Uç, E. M., Köksal, E., Gören, A. C., Alwasel, S. H., & Gülçin, İ. (2023). Comprehensive metabolite profiling of cinnamon ( Cinnamomum zeylanicum ) leaf oil using LC-HR/MS, GC/MS, and GC-FID: Determination of antiglaucoma, antioxidant, anticholinergic, and antidiabetic profiles. Life, 13(1), 136. https://doi.org/10.3390/life1301013 11. Dhillon, A., Sardana, S., & Thakkar, A. R. (2023). Development and validation of HPLC and UV spectrophotometric method for the quantification of cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon bark extract. Journal of Natural Remedies, 23(1), 111–119. https://doi.org/10.18311/jnr/2023/30836 12. Moreno, E. K. G., et al. (2022). Evaluation of antioxidant potential of commercial cinnamon samples and its vasculature effects. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 2022, Article 1992039. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/1992039 13. Pauletti A., Terrone G., Shekh-Ahmad T., Salamone A., Ravizza T., Rizzi M., Pastore A., Pascente R., Liang L. P., Villa B. R., Balosso S., Abramov A. Y., van Vliet E. A., del Giudice E., Aronica E., Patel M., Walker M. C., and Vezzani A., Targeting oxidative stress improves disease outcomes in a rat model of acquired epilepsy, Brain. (2019) 142, no. 7, article e39, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awz130, 2-s2.0-85066445620, 31145451. 14. Peterson DW, George RC, Scarramozino F, La Pointe NE, Anderson RA, Graves DJ, et al. Cinnamon extract inhibits tau aggregation associated with Alzheimer’s disease in vitro. J Alzheimer’s Disease. 2009; 17(3):585–97. PMid: 19433898. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-2009-1083 15. Gursale A, Dighe V, Parekh G. Simultaneous quantitative determination of cinnamaldehyde and methyl eugenol from the stem bark of cinnamomum zeylanicum blume using RP-HPLC. J Chromatogr Sci. 2010; 48(1):59–62. PMid: 20056038. https://doi.org/10.1093/chromsci/48.1.59 16. Al-Bayati FA, Mohammed MJ. Isolation, identification and purification of cinnamaldehyde from cinnamomum zeylanicum bark oil. An antibacterial study. Pharm Biol. 2009; 47(1):61–6 https://doi.org/10.1080/13880200802430607 17. Sagara K, Oshima T, Yoshida T, Tong Y, Zhang G, Chen YArcher AW. Determination of cinnamaldehyde, coumarin and cinnamyl alcohol in cinnamon and cassia by HPLC. J Chromatogr A. 1998; 365:409 18. Shetty VG, Chellampillai B, Kaul-Ghanekar RK. Development and validation of a bioanalytical HPLC method for simultaneous estimation of cinnamaldehyde and cinnamic acid in rat plasma: Application for pharmacokinetic studies. New J Chem. 2020; 44(11):434– 52. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9NJ03183A 19. Lungarini S, Aureli F, Coni E. Coumarin and cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon marketed in Italy: A Natural Chemical Hazard? Food Addit Contam Part A. 2008; 25(11):1297–305. PMid: 19680836. https://doi.org/10.1080/02652030802105274 20. Su Q, Yang K, Chen L, Liu M, Geng Q, He X, Li Y, Liu Y, et al. Cinnamaldehyde, a promising natural preservative against aspergillus flavus. Front Microbiol. 2019; 10:1–17. PMid: 31921070 PMCid: PMC6930169. https://doi.org/10.3389/ fmicb.2019.02895 21. .Doyle A, Stephens JC. A review of cinnamaldehyde and its derivatives as antibacterial agents. Fitoterapia. 2019; 139:104405. PMid: 31707126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. fitote.2019.104405 22. Yu BS, Lai SG, Tan QL. Simultaneous determination of cinnamaldehyde, eugenol and paeonol in traditional Chinese medicinal preparations by capillary GC-FID. Chem Pharm Bull Bull. 2006; 54(1):114–6. PMid: 16394562. https://doi.org/10.1248/cpb.54.114 23. Shreaz S, Wani WA, Behbehani JM, Raja V, Irshad M, Karched M, et al. Cinnamaldehyde and its derivatives, a novel class of antifungal agents. Fitoterapia. 2016; 112:116–31. PMid: 27259370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. fitote.2016.05.016 24. Wardatun S, Erni R, Alfiani N, Rissani D. Study effect type of extraction method and type of solvent to cinnamaldehyde and trans-cinnamic acid dry extract cinnamon. J Young Pharm. 2017; 9(1):s49–s51. https://doi.org/10.5530/ jyp.2017.1s.13