- 1. How many groups are cinnamon quills divided into in the Sri Lankan grading system?
A) Five
B) Two
C) Four
D) Three
- 2. What is the maximum diameter of Alba cinnamon quills?
A) Less than 16 mm
B) Less than 19 mm
C) Less than 6 mm
D) Less than 32 mm
- 3. What is the maximum diameter of Continental cinnamon quills?
A) Less than 19 mm
B) Less than 6 mm
C) Less than 32 mm
D) Less than 16 mm
- 4. What is the maximum diameter of Mexican cinnamon quills?
A) Less than 6 mm
B) Less than 16 mm
C) Less than 32 mm
D) Less than 19 mm
- 5. What is the maximum diameter of Hamburg cinnamon quills?
A) Less than 16 mm
B) Less than 32 mm
C) Less than 19 mm
D) Less than 6 mm
- 6. What are pieces of bark less than 106 mm long categorised as?
A) Alba
B) Quillings
C) Featherings
D) Chips
- 7. What are featherings defined as?
A) The inner bark of twigs and twisted shoots
B) Trimmings of quills
C) Pieces of bark less than 106 mm long
D) Bark of small twigs
- 8. What are chips of cinnamon?
A) Trimmings of quills, inseparable outer and inner bark, or bark of small twigs
B) The inner bark of twigs and twisted shoots
C) Bark pieces exactly 106 mm long
D) Quills less than 6 mm in diameter
- 9. What was the total world cinnamon production in tonnes in 2023?
A) 238,403
B) 348,203
C) 98,000
D) 123,403
- 10. Which of the following countries was among the top four cinnamon producers in 2023?
A) India
B) Brazil
C) China
D) Thailand
- 11. Which country, alongside China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, was a top cinnamon producer in 2023?
A) Mexico
B) Sri Lanka
C) Malaysia
D) Japan
- 12. True cinnamon from C. verum bark can be mixed with what counterfeit substance?
A) Cardamom
B) Star anise
C) Coumarin
D) Cassia
- 13. What phenolic is typically low in content in true cinnamon but high in counterfeit samples?
A) Cassia
B) Eugenol
C) Coumarin
D) Cinnamaldehyde
- 14. What was the coumarin content range found in authentic Ceylon cinnamon bark in one analysis?
A) 12–143 mg/kg
B) 500–1000 mg/kg
C) 3462 mg/kg
D) 1–10 mg/kg
- 15. What was the highest level of coumarin found in market samples of counterfeit cinnamon?
A) 50 mg/kg
B) 3462 mg/kg
C) 12 mg/kg
D) 143 mg/kg
- 16. Which organization found that a supplement containing the highest amount of coumarin was labeled as Ceylon cinnamon in 2020?
A) USDA
B) WHO
C) FDA
D) ConsumerLab.com
- 17. In the preparation of which food is cinnamon especially employed in Mexico?
A) Cereal
B) Soup
C) Chocolate
D) Bread
- 18. Cinnamon is often used in savoury dishes featuring which meats?
A) Pork and turkey
B) Chicken and lamb
C) Beef and pork
D) Fish and beef
- 19. In the United States and Europe, cinnamon and sugar are often used to flavour fruits, especially which fruit?
A) Pears
B) Apples
C) Oranges
D) Bananas
- 20. Which cuisines use cinnamon for both sweet and savoury dishes?
A) Mexican and American
B) Portuguese and Turkish
C) French and Italian
D) Chinese and Japanese
- 21. In which culinary process involving preservation is cinnamon used?
A) Smoking
B) Fermenting
C) Pickling
D) Curing
- 22. Which Christmas drinks often contain cinnamon?
A) Punch and beer
B) Tea and coffee
C) Hot chocolate and cider
D) Eggnog and mulled wine
- 23. In Persian cuisine, cinnamon powder enhances the flavour of thick soups, sweets, and what else?
A) Seafood
B) Salads
C) Bread
D) Drinks
- 24. In Sephardic cooking, cinnamon is incorporated into vegetable stews and desserts soaked in what?
A) Caramel
B) Syrup
C) Honey
D) Milk
- 25. Which Sephardic desserts are mentioned as incorporating cinnamon and being soaked in honey?
A) Tishpishti and travados
B) Honey cakes and kugels
C) Churros and flan
D) Baklava and halva
- 26. In Ashkenazi cuisine, cinnamon features in dishes like kugels and what else?
A) Chocolate
B) Honey cakes
C) Tishpishti
D) Travados
- 27. Aside from cinnamon, which spice is one of the 'four sibling spices' in Malay cuisine?
A) Vanilla
B) Nutmeg
C) Clove
D) Ginger
- 28. Which spice, along with cinnamon, clove, and cardamom, is part of Malay cuisine's 'four sibling spices'?
A) Star anise
B) Coriander
C) Black pepper
D) Cumin
- 29. Which species is also known as Indonesian cinnamon?
A) Cinnamomum verum
B) Cinnamomum citriodorum
C) Cinnamomum loureiroi
D) Cinnamomum burmanni
- 30. What is another name for Cinnamomum loureiroi?
A) Saigon cinnamon
B) Malabar cinnamon
C) Ceylon cinnamon
D) Korintje
- 31. Which species is known as Sri Lanka cinnamon?
A) Cinnamomum cassia
B) Cinnamomum burmanni
C) Cinnamomum verum
D) Cinnamomum loureiroi
- 32. What is the scientific name for Malabar cinnamon?
A) Cinnamomum cassia
B) Cinnamomum zeylanicum
C) Cinnamomum citriodorum
D) Cinnamomum burmanni
- 33. What colour is Chinese cinnamon generally?
A) Dark blackish-brown
B) Bright yellow
C) Medium to light reddish-brown
D) Pure white
- 34. What colour is Ceylon cinnamon?
A) Lighter brown
B) Dark reddish-brown
C) Greenish-brown
D) Orange-red
- 35. Which type of cinnamon loses much of its flavour during cooking?
A) Chinese cinnamon
B) Indonesian cinnamon
C) Ceylon cinnamon
D) Saigon cinnamon
- 36. Which cinnamon sticks have many thin layers?
A) Saigon cinnamon sticks
B) Chinese cinnamon sticks
C) Indonesian cinnamon sticks
D) Ceylon cinnamon sticks
- 37. Which cinnamon can damage a spice or coffee grinder?
A) Ceylon cinnamon
B) Indonesian cinnamon
C) Cinnamomum verum
D) Malabar cinnamon
- 38. What happens when pure Ceylon cinnamon is treated with tincture of iodine?
A) Little effect is visible
B) A deep-blue tint is produced
C) It turns bright red
D) It bubbles vigorously
- 39. What happens when Chinese cinnamon is treated with tincture of iodine?
A) It dissolves completely
B) A deep-blue tint is produced
C) Nothing happens
D) It turns bright orange
- 40. What was the name of the cinnamon-based sauce common in Western Europe during the Middle Ages?
A) Cameline sauce
B) Romesco sauce
C) Bechamel sauce
D) Garum sauce
- 41. What body of water did Europeans learn cinnamon came up according to Latin writers and Herodotus?
A) The Red Sea
B) The Black Sea
C) The Caspian Sea
D) The Mediterranean Sea
- 42. Who accompanied King Louis IX of France to Egypt on the Seventh Crusade in 1248?
A) Sieur de Joinville
B) John of Montecorvino
C) Marco Polo
D) Maimonides
- 43. Which traveler avoided precision regarding the topic of where cinnamon came from?
A) Zakariya al-Qazwini
B) John of Montecorvino
C) Sieur de Joinville
D) Marco Polo
- 44. Who made the first mention that cinnamon grew in the area of India, around 1180?
A) Maimonides
B) John of Montecorvino
C) Zakariya al-Qazwini
D) Herodotus
- 45. In which work did Maimonides first mention that the spice grew in the area of India?
A) Mishneh Torah
B) Athar al-bilad wa-akhbar al-'ibad
C) Monument of Places
D) The Travels
- 46. Who first mentioned that cinnamon grew specifically in Sri Lanka?
A) Maimonides
B) Sieur de Joinville
C) Zakariya al-Qazwini
D) Louis IX
- 47. What is the title of Zakariya al-Qazwini's work that mentioned Sri Lanka as the source of cinnamon?
A) The Seven Crusades
B) Histories
C) Mishneh Torah
D) Athar al-bilad wa-akhbar al-'ibad
- 48. What type of watercraft did Indonesians use to transport cinnamon directly from the Moluccas?
A) Caravels
B) Rafts
C) Galleys
D) Longships
- 49. From where did Indonesian rafts transport cinnamon directly to East Africa?
A) Egypt
B) Sri Lanka
C) India
D) The Moluccas
- 50. Where did local traders carry cinnamon after it arrived in East Africa from the Moluccas?
A) Constantinople
B) Venice
C) Rome
D) Alexandria
- 51. Which merchants held a monopoly on the spice trade in Europe, distributing cinnamon from Alexandria?
A) Egyptian traders
B) Venetian traders
C) French traders
D) Indonesian traders
- 52. What is the principal component of cinnamon's essential oil?
A) Cinnamaldehyde
B) Kannella
C) Canel
D) Eugenol
- 53. What percentage of the world cinnamon production did the leading country produce in 2023?
A) 25%
B) 50%
C) 15%
D) 39%
- 54. To which family do all cinnamon-producing trees belong?
A) Lauraceae
B) Cinnamomum
C) Cannabaceae
D) Fabaceae
- 55. In what century did the English word 'cinnamon' first appear in English texts?
A) 15th century
B) 16th century
C) 14th century
D) 7th century BC
- 56. From which ancient language did the English word 'cinnamon' ultimately derive its root via Greek and Latin?
A) Old English
B) Phoenician
C) Sanskrit
D) Arabic
- 57. What does the Latin word 'cannella' mean?
A) Tube
B) Spice
C) Bark
D) Sweet
- 58. Around what year was cinnamon first imported to Egypt?
A) 65 AD
B) 2000 BC
C) 1310 AD
D) 301 AD
- 59. What was the name of the aromatic used for burning in Ancient Egypt that included cinnamon and cassia?
A) Myrrh
B) Kyphi
C) Canel
D) Labdanum
- 60. Who wrote the first Greek reference to kasía in the 7th century BC?
A) Pliny the Elder
B) Herodotus
C) Sappho
D) Aristotle
- 61. According to Herodotus, what creatures guarded cinnamon and cassia?
A) Cinnamon birds
B) Giant scorpions
C) Winged serpents
D) Dragons
- 62. Which author exposed the tales of cinnamon birds as a traders' fiction?
A) Sappho
B) Pliny the Elder
C) Herodotus
D) Aristotle
- 63. Which Roman Emperor reportedly burned a year's supply of cinnamon at his wife's funeral?
A) Nero
B) Diocletian
C) Augustus
D) Pliny
- 64. What was the name of the Roman Emperor whose wife's funeral featured the burning of cinnamon?
A) Livia
B) Cleopatra
C) Agrippina
D) Poppaea Sabina
- 65. In what year did Nero burn cinnamon at his wife's funeral?
A) 2000 BC
B) 1310 AD
C) AD 65
D) 301 AD
- 66. What was the price of a pound of cassia listed in Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices from 301 AD?
A) 1,500 denarii
B) 25 denarii
C) 327 denarii
D) 125 denarii
- 67. How much did an agricultural labourer earn per day according to Diocletian's Edict?
A) 125 denarii
B) 25 denarii
C) 1,500 denarii
D) 50 denarii
- 68. What is the weight equivalent of a Roman pound mentioned in the text?
A) 327 grams
B) 1000 grams
C) 100 grams
D) 500 grams
- 69. What is the imperial weight equivalent of a Roman pound given in the text?
A) 12 oz
B) 8 oz
C) 11.5 oz
D) 16 oz
- 70. Which constituent is mentioned alongside cinnamaldehyde as contributing to cinnamon's aroma?
A) Eugenol
B) Cannella
C) Canel
D) Kyphi
- 71. Which historical region was falsely cited by ancient authors as the source where cinnamon grew?
A) Greece
B) Egypt
C) Arabia
D) Rome
- 72. During the 1500s, which explorer searched for spices on behalf of Spain?
A) Vasco da Gama
B) Ferdinand Magellan
C) A Dutch captain
D) Lord Brown
- 73. In what year did Dutch traders establish a trading post in Sri Lanka?
A) 1638
B) 1767
C) 1796
D) 1500
- 74. By what year did the Dutch take control of the cinnamon manufactories in Sri Lanka?
A) 1640
B) 1796
C) 1638
D) 1658
- 75. When were the remaining Portuguese expelled from Sri Lanka by the Dutch?
A) 1640
B) 1500
C) 1767
D) 1658
- 76. How far out to sea could the smell of cinnamon be detected according to a Dutch captain?
A) Two leagues
B) Five leagues
C) Eight leagues
D) Ten leagues
- 77. Which company eventually began to cultivate its own cinnamon trees in Sri Lanka?
A) The British East India Company
B) The Dutch East India Company
C) The Philippine Trading Company
D) The Spanish Royal Navy
- 78. In which Indian district is the Anjarakkandy Cinnamon Estate located?
A) Manila district
B) Tokyo district
C) Colombo district
D) Kannur district
- 79. In what year was the Anjarakkandy Cinnamon Estate established?
A) 1767
B) 1500
C) 1796
D) 1638
- 80. When did the British seize control of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from the Dutch?
A) 1796
B) 1767
C) 1640
D) 1658
- 81. What type of tree is cinnamon?
A) A deciduous tree
B) A palm tree
C) An evergreen tree
D) A coniferous tree
- 82. What shape are the leaves of a cinnamon tree?
A) Star-shaped
B) Oval-shaped
C) Heart-shaped
D) Needle-shaped
- 83. What kind of fruit does the cinnamon tree produce?
A) A citrus fruit
B) A berry fruit
C) A nut fruit
D) A pod fruit
- 84. In Japan, what part of the cinnamon plant is harvested to produce nikki?
A) The berry fruit
B) The leaves
C) The outer bark
D) The roots
- 85. What is the Japanese product distinct from cinnamon that is made from roots?
A) Coppice
B) Stripe canker
C) Quill
D) Nikki
- 86. What is the Japanese name for cinnamon?
A) Shinamon
B) Zeylanicum
C) Mindanaense
D) Nikki
- 87. What does coppicing a cinnamon tree involve?
A) Cutting the stems at ground level
B) Pulling the tree up by its roots
C) Stripping the leaves off the branches
D) Pruning the top canopy
- 88. About how many new shoots form from the roots the year after coppicing?
A) About a dozen
B) Exactly five
C) Around fifty
D) Only one or two
- 89. Which of the following is a pest that can affect growing cinnamon plants?
A) Colletotrichum gloeosporioides
B) Sulfur dioxide
C) Cinnamomum zeylanicum
D) Nikki
- 90. What disease does Phytophthora cinnamomi cause in cinnamon plants?
A) Leaf curl
B) Root rot
C) Bark rot
D) Stripe canker
- 91. How is the outer bark removed from the cut cinnamon stems?
A) By burning it off
B) By freezing it
C) By scraping it off
D) By soaking it in water
- 92. After scraping the outer bark, how is the inner bark loosened?
A) By peeling it with bare hands
B) By twisting the branch forcefully
C) By beating the branch evenly with a hammer
D) By pressing it in a heavy machine
- 93. What treatment may be required if pests proliferate in the drying cinnamon bark?
A) Fumigation with sulphur dioxide
B) Exposure to ultraviolet light
C) Coppicing the dried bark
D) Washing with salt water
- 94. In what year did the European Union approve the use of sulphur dioxide for C. verum bark?
A) 1638
B) 2011
C) 1796
D) 1767
- 95. Which of the following is listed as a Diplodia species that can affect growing cinnamon plants?
A) Diplodia species
B) Diplodia mindanaense
C) Diplodia quillus
D) Diplodia zeylanicum
- 96. What percentage of ground cinnamon consists of carbohydrates?
A) 53%
B) 11%
C) 1%
D) 81%
- 97. How much dietary fibre is included in the carbohydrates of ground cinnamon?
A) 11%
B) 4%
C) 81%
D) 53%
- 98. What percentage of fat is present in ground cinnamon?
A) 81%
B) 11%
C) 1%
D) 4%
- 99. What liquid is used to macerate cinnamon bark when creating a tincture?
A) Water
B) 80% ethanol
C) Polysorbate 80
D) Sea water
- 100. What color is cinnamon essential oil?
A) Clear
B) Dark brown
C) Golden-yellow
D) Reddish
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