effects in the treatment of diabetes, although further study appears to be needed in this area. Finally, another interesting application of cinnamaldehyde is that it can be used as a corrosion inhibitor for steel and other ferrous alloys in corrosive fluids. Under high pressure and temperature conditions, the polymerisation of trans-cinnamaldehyde is favoured, which leads to a thin film forming on the metal surface, acting as a barrier to corrosion. The main active ingredient in an ancient spice historically used to spice up foods has an interesting future ahead of it.Information BoxGas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)GC-MS is an analytical technique that links together gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Gas chromatography separates a mixture of compounds; it starts after dissolving a sample into a suitable solvent and injecting it into the column. An unreactive gas then carries the sample through the column, where the different compounds travel at different speeds, depending on how well they bind (intermolecular bonding) to the polymer coating inside the column, called the stationary phase; they therefore elute at different times. This approach is similar to paper chromatography familiar to most people, where, in its simplest form, the colours of felt tip pens become separated, and so apparent, when a solvent mixture slowly soaks through some marked filter paper. Here the stationary phase is the filter paper.The compounds eluting from the gas chromatograph are then turned into ions and a mass spectrometer is used to identify each of these substances. Each ion can be identified from its mass, locating the molecular ion peak in the spectrum, but also from the smaller and lighter compounds it breaks into during the procedure.The Authors:Olivia Levy, at the time of writing, is a final year undergraduate student in the School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK.Tim Harrison is the Bristol ChemLabS Director of Outreach, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK.Natalie Fey is a Lecturer based in the Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK.TEMPERANDO A QUIMICA COM CANELA! Por Olivia Levy, Tim Harrison e Natalie Fey, Faculdade de Quimica, Universidade de Bristol, Reino UnidoTraduzido por Natanael F. Franca Rocha e Gustavo F. Schutz, Florianopolis, BrasilFrascos de fundo redondo, presos firmemente.A canela e originaria do Sri Lanka, um pais insular asiatico no extremo sul do subcontinente indiano. E encontrada na casca interna de varias arvores do genero Cinnamomum pertencentes a familia Lauraceae. A colheita da canela costuma ocorrer entre os meses de setembro e novembro, quando a casca da arvore tem a espessura de um dedo e esta uniformemente marrom, ideal para extracao. A casca interna e entao raspada, retirada do tronco e deixada secar. Depois de seca, a casca se enrola assumindo a forma de um pergaminho, o que se conhece como pau de canela (como mostrado no frasco a esquerda na imagem acima). Ela tambem pode ser moida ate virar canela em po (como mostrado no frasco a direita).A canela tem sido usada como especiaria ao longo da historia para uma ampla gama de finalidades. Acredita-se que seu primeiro uso tenha ocorrido por volta de 2000 a.C., conforme