Background Cinnamomum verum (true cinnamon) and Cinnamomum cassia (cassia cinnamon) are two important species belonging to family Lauraceae. These species are recognized by morphological, chemical composition and essential oil contents. The appropriate identi cation of species would be considerably improved by a genetic method. The main objective of the present study was to develop molecular markers distinguishing between C. verum and C. cassia.Methods and results A total 71 ISSR (Inter simple sequence repeat) and four universal barcoding (ITS, rbcL, matK, and psbA-trnH)genes were used to distinguish both the species. No sequence variation was observed between the two species for any DNA barcode gene. However, one ISSR i.e. ISSR-37 showed a clear distinction between the species and produced 570 bp and 746 bp amplicons in C. verum and C. cassia, respectively. The polymorphic bands were converted into species speci c SCAR markers. The SCAR-CV was speci c to C. verum and ampli ed 190 bp band, however there was no ampli cation seen in the C. cassia samples.
ConclusionThe SCAR primers generated in this study can be employed as e cient, economical, and reliable molecular markers for the identi cation of C. verum.