Development of an effective and efficient DNA isolation method for Cinnamomum species

•Polysaccharide and secondary metabolites in Cinnamomum hinder DNA extraction.•Developed DNA extraction protocol proved better then earlier protocols.•An efficient protocol has been developed for extraction of DNA mature leaves of Cinnamomum.•Extracted DNA was successfully amplified and digested.•Extracting DNA from different plant species proved wide utility of the protocol. Different species of Cinnamomum are rich in polysaccharide’s and secondary metabolites, which hinder the process of DNA extraction. High quality DNA is the pre-requisite for any molecular biology study. In this paper we report a modified method for high quality and quantity of DNA extraction from both lyophilized and non-lyophilized leaf samples. Protocol reported differs from the CTAB procedure by addition of higher concentration of salt and activated charcoal to remove the polysaccharides and polyphenols. Wide utility of the modified protocol was proved by DNA extraction from different woody species and 4 Cinnamomum species. Therefore, this protocol has also been validated in different species of plants containing high levels of polyphenols and polysaccharides. The extracted DNA showed perfect amplification when subjected to RAPD, restriction digestion and amplification with DNA barcoding primers. The DNA extraction protocol is reproducible and can be applied for any plant molecular biology study.