Cinnamon myrtle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cinnamon myrtle |
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| Backhousia myrtifolia, leaf and flower | |
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Backhousia
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myrtifolia
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The Cinnamon Myrtle (also known as carrol, neverbreak, iron wood, grey myrtle, or Backhousia myrtifolia) is a small tree that grows in the rainforests of Eastern Australia. It was first discovered and used by the Aboriginal people of Australia. This special plant produces oils that smell like cinnamon. These oils can also fight against bacteria and fungi.
Because of its unique smell and properties, Cinnamon Myrtle can be used in cooking as a spice. It also has potential uses in medicine to help treat infections caused by tiny living things. This tree can grow quite tall, up to 30 metres (about 100 feet). Its leaves are oval-shaped, about 4–7 cm long, and its flowers look like white stars.
Cinnamon Myrtle is famous for its beautiful snow-white flowers. This makes it a good plant to grow for homes and businesses, and it can even be sold to other countries. However, the plant can get a disease called "post-harvest browning syndrome." This disease makes the leaves turn brown and wilt, which can stop it from being a successful crop.
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About Cinnamon Myrtle
The Cinnamon Myrtle is a plant native to Australia. It belongs to the Myrtaceae family, which includes many well-known Australian plants like eucalyptus. This tree usually grows in places with lots of sunlight, like the top layer of the rainforest. It often forms thick trunks and prefers warm, temperate rainforest conditions.
You can often find Cinnamon Myrtle growing near water, especially along the eastern coast of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. Some common spots include the South Coast of NSW near Bega and off Fraser Island in Queensland. The Cinnamon Myrtle is an evergreen tree, meaning it keeps its leaves all year round. It can live for a long time, usually between 80 and 100 years.
These trees typically bloom in late spring and early summer. They produce beautiful ivory-white, starfish-shaped flowers with five petals. After flowering, they develop small, capsule-like fruits. If you look closely at the leaves, you'll see tiny white dots. These are oil glands that release special natural compounds. These compounds are what give the plant its unique cinnamon-like smell.
How it was Discovered and Used Long Ago
The Backhousia myrtifolia was officially written about and named after an English botanist named James Backhouse (1794–1869). He included it in his book about Australian plants and wildlife called A Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies. James Backhouse was known for his writings about plants and for making friends with the indigenous Australians on whose land he was doing his research.
But even before James Backhouse wrote about it, the Aboriginal people of Australia used Cinnamon Myrtle a lot. They used it as a spice in their cooking because of its special smell and how easy it was to find.
Growing Cinnamon Myrtle
The Cinnamon Myrtle grows quickly when it has the right conditions. This includes good soil, lots of sunlight, and enough water. It grows best with clean, oxygen-rich air and soil full of different nutrients and tiny living things.
What's great about Cinnamon Myrtle is that it can handle tough conditions. It can survive dry periods, floods, and even when its roots are disturbed. This means it can grow well in places where the weather and temperature change a lot. Because of this, it's a good plant to grow in gardens or along footpaths in both tropical (where there's a lot of rain) and coastal areas of Australia. In towns and cities, Cinnamon Myrtle can live for about 60 years. It doesn't need much care as long as it gets plenty of sunlight. This is helpful for local governments and councils because it saves money on watering, trimming, and root maintenance.
The Browning Problem
Even though Cinnamon Myrtle seems perfect for growing, it has a big problem called "post-harvest browning syndrome." This condition makes the plant's dark green leaves turn brown and wilt. This browning problem was first noticed between July and September 2008, on a group of Cinnamon Myrtle plants at the University of Queensland.
At first, small black dots appeared on the leaves, which then grew into larger brown stains. This problem affected about 30% of the harvested plants, meaning it can happen to many plants in a group. Scientists are still studying what causes this browning syndrome, but they think two main things are responsible:
- Infections from fungi or bacteria.
- Being exposed to too much heat for too long, without proper temperature control.
One fungus called Alternaria alternata has been found to cause this browning. This fungus releases harmful substances that damage the plant's cells. These substances can also make the plant's oil glands leak. When the oils leak, it harms the plant's ability to use sunlight, which leads to the black and brown spots on the leaves.
Also, too much heat can create harmful chemicals called free radicals in the leaves. These chemicals damage the plant's cells, which also hurts its ability to use sunlight. This is another big reason why the leaves turn brown. To help prevent this browning syndrome, it's suggested that Cinnamon Myrtle plants be kept at certain temperatures and given enough water.
This browning not only makes the leaves look bad but also takes away the plant's famous cinnamon smell. Since there isn't a good treatment for "post-harvest browning syndrome" yet, it makes it harder to sell Cinnamon Myrtle as a product.
Ways We Can Use Cinnamon Myrtle
In Food
Cinnamon Myrtle is widely used as a flavouring agent because of the special qualities of its natural oils, methyl eugenol and elemicin. These oils create a natural cinnamon-like smell and taste. Because of this, Cinnamon Myrtle can be used to add flavour to foods like biscuits, stews, and desserts.
Besides its flavour, the Cinnamon Myrtle plant is also full of good things for you. It has lots of fibres, vitamins (like A, C, E, K, and B6), and minerals (like potassium, calcium, and copper). These are all important for keeping your body working well. Vitamins help speed up important reactions in your body, and minerals like potassium help your musculoskeletal system work correctly.
For Medicine
Scientists are also looking into using Cinnamon Myrtle as a way to fight bacteria and fungi. The oils from Cinnamon Myrtle, especially methyl eugenol and elemicin, are strong antiseptic agents. This means they can stop the growth of over 100 different types of bacteria.
For example, methyl eugenol can break down the strong outer layer of some bacteria. Elemicin can create small holes in the outer layer of other bacteria. By doing this, Cinnamon Myrtle can expose the inside of bacterial cells to the outside, which kills them. Studies have shown that extracts from Cinnamon Myrtle leaves can stop the growth of bacteria like Proteus mirabilis and Escherichia coli. P. mirabilis can cause urinary tract infections, and E. coli often causes food poisoning.
What's more, the oils from Cinnamon Myrtle are not harmful to living things (this was tested using a special bioassay). This makes them even more promising for use as a treatment for bacterial or fungal infections, whether taken internally or applied to the skin.
To Keep Bugs Away
The anti-septic qualities of Cinnamon Myrtle oils also make them useful as an insect repellent. They can help keep away common disease-carrying insects like mosquitoes, flies, and beetles. Elemicin, one of the compounds from Cinnamon Myrtle oils, could replace ingredients like citronella oil, which is often used in insect repellent candles and torches.
Using natural insect repellents made from Cinnamon Myrtle would be especially helpful for people who are allergic to the chemicals in regular repellents. In countries like Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, where diseases like malaria and West Nile virus are spread by mosquitoes, repellents made from Cinnamon Myrtle could be very useful.
Cinnamon Myrtle as a Product for Other Countries
Cinnamon Myrtle is a popular product for selling to other countries, especially in Asia like Japan. This is mainly because of its unique ivory-white flowers. Between 1995 and 2000, the money made from selling these flowers overseas was high, especially around the holidays. Australian farmers even called the flower "the Christmas Carol." So, the plant was mostly sold for its beautiful looks, not for its medicinal or food uses. To meet the growing demand in countries like Asia and Western Europe, farmers in southern NSW, Australia, started growing more of it.
However, due to poor management, sales problems, and the increasing issue of "post-harvest browning syndrome," the plant's popularity dropped by over 40% in 2004. The browning syndrome affected up to 20% of all exported plants. This caused the average quality of exported plants to drop significantly. Since the Cinnamon Myrtle market depended entirely on the plant's quality and appearance, profits also fell.
In response, Australian growers and exporters formed the Backhousia Group in 2004. This group aimed to improve sales through better farming methods and stronger sales campaigns. This teamwork helped the Cinnamon Myrtle industry become profitable again within two years. Now, with more uses for the plant being discovered (like for antibacterial purposes, cooking, or insect repellents), its potential as an exported product could grow even more.
- Floyd, A.G., Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia, ISBN: 0-909605-57-2.
See also
In Spanish: Mirto canela para niños
