Essential oils & personal care
Cassia bark oil
Cassia oil is distilled from the bark, twigs and leaves of Cinnamomum burmannii, the cassia Indonesia produces at scale. It is dominated by cinnamaldehyde, which is what makes it useful and what makes it a skin sensitiser with restrictions in cosmetic use.
How it leaves the country.
- Bark oil
- The premium fraction, highest in cinnamaldehyde, distilled from bark and small twigs.
- Leaf oil
- Distilled from leaves. Different composition, cheaper, and not a substitute for bark oil in flavour work.
- Oleoresin
- Solvent extracted, carrying the non-volatile flavour and colour compounds alongside the aroma.
- Redistilled or rectified
- Cleaned up for flavour and fragrance use where colour and residue matter.
How it is graded.
A chemical purchase. Composition by chromatography on the shipped lot, against a sealed retained sample, because this is a category where blending is easy.
- Cinnamaldehyde content
- The primary specification and what a formulator doses against. Stated as a percentage from chromatography rather than described.
- Coumarin
- Present in cassia and restricted in food use in several markets. It is a specification point rather than a curiosity.
- Adulteration
- Synthetic cinnamaldehyde is cheap and blends invisibly. Chromatography against a retained sample is the only reliable check.
- Colour and clarity
- Yellow to reddish brown, darkening with age and heat. A very dark oil has usually been stored badly.
- Specific gravity and refractive index
- Basic physical checks that catch gross adulteration quickly and cheaply.
- Skin sensitisation
- Cinnamaldehyde is a known sensitiser. Cosmetic use is restricted and the limits are set by your destination market.
How it is packed.
- Lined steel or aluminium drums
- The oil attacks some plastics and picks up contamination from reused drums.
- Full drums, minimal headspace
- Oxidation darkens the oil and changes the composition you paid for.
- Dangerous goods
- Establish the classification for the specific material before booking. Many essential oils are flammable liquids by flash point.
- Heat and light
- Both degrade the oil. Stow away from the container walls and the door.
Where it grows.
Kerinci and Jambi
Sumatra
The main cassia growing area, with distillation attached to the bark trade.
West Sumatra
Sumatra
Established cassia production with processing and a route out through Padang or Belawan.
West Java
Java
Distillation capacity serving flavour and fragrance buyers rather than growing at scale.
Documentation, where applicable.
- Certificate of analysis
- Full chromatography with cinnamaldehyde and coumarin figures on the shipped lot.
- Safety data sheet
- A skin sensitiser and frequently a flammable liquid. The sheet drives both handling and transport.
- Dangerous goods declaration
- Where the flash point of the specific batch puts it in a transport class.
- Certificate of origin
- Which form applies depends on the destination and the preference scheme in force with Indonesia.
Questions buyers ask.
Is cassia oil the same as cinnamon oil?
It comes from a different species from true Ceylon cinnamon and the composition differs, particularly in coumarin. The names are used loosely, so the botanical species belongs in the specification.
Can I use it in a skin product?
Only within the limits your market sets, because cinnamaldehyde is a recognised sensitiser. This is a question for your safety assessor before the formulation rather than after.
How do I know it is not synthetic?
Chromatography on the shipped lot against a sealed retained sample. Synthetic cinnamaldehyde is inexpensive and undetectable by smell, which makes this one of the more adulterated oils in the trade.
What does your service cost?
Five per cent of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory. A factory audit starts at $250 depending on location. We work with orders from $10,000 per shipment.
Tell us what you need.
Give us the specification and the destination port. We come back with producer options and an indicative price. Our fee is 5 % of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory.