Cinnamomum osmophloeum , an endemic edible species in Taiwan, is frequently misidentified as the invasive C. burmannii in commercial products. This study developed a DNA-based identification system using chloroplast insertion/deletion (indel) markers, supported by chemical profiling. The comparative analysis of chloroplast genomes between C. osmophloeum and other cinnamon species, yielding 15 indel loci, of which 14 were polymorphic and 6 revealed intraspecific variation. Eight validated indel markers were further used to discriminate cinnamon species. Volatile profiles analyzed by SPME–GC/MS showed that cinnamaldehyde and linalool dominated in C. osmophloeum , whereas borneol and eucalyptol characterized C. burmannii . Application to seven commercial products revealed that five products matched C. osmophloeum genotypes, consistent with labeling. These results demonstrate that chloroplast indel markers provide a robust and rapid tool for cinnamon authentication, while chemical profiling serves as a complementary approach for species discrimination.
Wu et al. (Sat,) studied this question.