Comparative assessment of essential oil composition and yield in Cinnamomum tamala leaves upon application of different drying practices

Cinnamomum tamala or Indian bay leaf is a widely used spice in the Asian subcontinent. The aim of this study was to assess the contents and composition of essential oils and volatiles internal pool in C. tamala leaves obtained from different drying practices such as, sun drying, freeze drying, shade drying and simultaneous oven drying at 60 degrees C and 40 degrees C, when compared with market-available dry leaves. Out of five different practices tested, leaves when oven dried at 60 degrees C performed best in terms of free-radical scavenging capacities, internal pool of volatile contents (257.25 +/- 37.57 mu g/g of dried leaf tissue) and yields of essential oils (0.25%). This was followed by freeze-dried leaves, which showed 0.2% essential oils yield. Among the natural drying, sun dried leaves exhibited high yield of essential oils (0.16%). Performance of shade dried leaves was shown to be lowest i.e. 0.11% essential oils yield but was comparable with the yield of market-available leaves.