الفهرس 
MATERIAL AND METHODSOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Cinnamon is amongst the world’s oldest and most frequently consumed spices, and is used as an herbal remedy. It is one of the oldest herbal medicines, which has been recorded in Chinese publications 4,000 years ago.
The genus Cinnamomum consists of 250 species of aromatic evergreen trees and shrubs, it located in tropical countries. There are two types of cinnamon, cassia (Cinnamomum aromaticum) and verum (Cinnamomum zeylanicum).
Cinnamon has been used for centuries, as flavor modifiers to make food more palatable. Its ingredients impart characteristic flavor and spicy aroma to food. The range of variation in the general composition of various cassia barks. Among these, the constituent of commercial importance is the volatile oil, the first developed in the Middle Ages by Arabs. Volatile components are present in all parts of cinnamon and can be classified broadly into monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and phenylpropenes.
Extensive gas chromatography analysis of cinnamon leaf, stem bark, and root bark contain volatile oils 1– 4% such as cinnamaldehyde 60–80%, eugenol up to10%, and trans-cinnamic acid 5–10%, phenolic compound 4–10% such as condensed tannins, catechins and pro-anthocyanidins, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes (pinene), calcium- monoterpenes oxalate, gum, mucilage, resin, starch, sugars and traces of coumarin. The chemical composition of cinnamon varies considerably depending on the location and method of distillation.
Cinnamon has been shown to be generally safe when ingested. Verum and cassia cinnamon has recently been the subject of intense research and have been granted GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status, by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), as a food additive. Extensive investigation in recent years suggests that cinnamon possess numerous pharmacological activities including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antipyretic, antiulcerous, antiallergic, and anti-inflammatory effects.
The present study was conducted to assess the chemical composition and effect of storage at different time intervals (zero, 3 and 6 months) at room temperature, refrigerator temperature, and deep freezing temperature of Cinnamon essential oils using Gas Chromatography/mass Spectrometry (GC/MS).
The following was adopted to fulfill these objectives:
• Cinnamon powder and sticks were collected from Libyan markets, a total of 90 samples were collected from five Libyan governorates. Eighteen samples were collected from each governorate, nine samples of powdered and other nine of sticks form. Each sample was stored in a separate transparent normal plastic bag (obtained from market).
• Samples of each form were divided into 3 equal portions, the first portion was stored at room temperature, the second at refrigerator (2-8 °C) and the third at the deep freezer (-8°C), three samples from each storage temperature were analyzed at zero time, after 3 and 6 months to determine the effect of storage on essential oils.
• The essential oils of Cinnamon were extracted using solvent extraction.
• The extract were analyzed using GC-MS at time of purchasing and after storage for time intervals of 3 and 6 months at either: room temperature, refrigeration at (2-8°C) or deep freezing at (- 8°C) to detect the effect of storage on essential oils.
The result of the present study revealed the following:
Cinnamon powder:
• Cinnamaldehyde concentration was found 63.7% at zero time, and increased to 77.1%, 78.6% and 77.6% after storage for three months at room, refrigerator and deep freezer temperatures, respectively.
After six months it also increased to 89.8%, 84.6% and 84.9% at room, refrigerator and deep freezer temperatures, respectively.
• Coumarin concentration was 7.5% at zero time, and after storage for three months it increased to 7.8%, 9.7% and 8.9%, at room, refrigerator and deep freezer temperatures, respectively.
After six months it also increased to 9.8% and 10.6% at room and refrigerator temperatures, respectively, and it decreased at deep freezer temperature to 8.0%.
• The mean concentration of oleic acid was 6.8% at zero time, and after three months of storage it decreased to 4.7%, 3.5% and 3.7% at room, refrigerator and deep freezer temperatures, respectively.
After six months it also decreased to 1.1% at refrigerator temperature, and disappeared at room, and deep freezer temperatures.
• The mean concentration of linoleic acid was 12.4% at zero time, and after storage for three months it decreased to 0.4%, 1.6% and 0.9% at room, refrigerator and deep freezer temperatures, respectively.
After six months it also decreased to 1.0% at refrigerator temperature, and disappeared at room, and deep freezer temperatures.
Cinnamon sticks:
• The cinnamaldehyde concentration was70.8% at zero time, and it increased to 69.0%, 76.9% and 73.4% after storage for three months, at room, refrigerator and deep freezer temperatures, respectively.
After six months it also increased to 85.9%, 87.4% and 86.2%, at room, refrigerator and deep freezer temperatures, respectively.
• The coumarin mean concentration was 7.0% at zero time, and it increased to 7.2%, at room temperature, and it decreased to 6.6% and 5.8% at refrigerator and deep freezer temperatures, respectively after three months of storage.
After six months it also increased to 8.1% and 7.3% at room and deep freezer temperatures, respectively, but it decreased to 5.6% at refrigerator temperature.
• The mean concentration of oleic acid was 7.0% at zero time, and after storage for three months it decreased to 6.0%, 3.4% and 4.2%, at room, refrigerator and deep freezer temperatures, respectively, and continued to decrease until it disappeared after six months at different temperatures.
• The mean concentration of linoleic acid was 5.5% at zero time, and it decreased after storage for three months to 0.9%, 0.3%, at room and deep freezer temperatures, respectively, and it was high to 2.1% at refrigerator temperature, and after six months it disappeared at different temperatures.
• Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate was found in cinnamon sticks after storage for three months.
• There was a significant increase in the mean concentration of Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate by increasing storage time in the cinnamon sticks while in powder Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate concentration increased at six months of storage but was not detected after three months storage.
• There was no significant difference in the mean concentration of either cinnamaldehyde, coumarin, oleic acid and linoleic acid in cinnamon powder oil when storage for three and six months at different storage temperatures {room temperature (20-25°C), refrigerator temperature (2-8°C) and deep freezer temperature (-8°C)}.
• Storage period of three and six months did not affect significantly the mean concentration of either cinnamaldehyde, coumarin, oleic acid and linoleic acid in cinnamon sticks oil at different temperatures.
• After storage for six months oleic and linoleic acid were found in powder type, but not found in cinnamon sticks.
• There was no significant difference in the concentration of either cinnamaldehyde, oleic acid and linoleic acid between two types of cinnamon oil at zero time and during storage at different temperatures.
• Coumarin concentration different significantly after three and six months at refrigerator storage in powder and sticks cinnamon, a though there was no significant difference in its concentration at zero time.