LEMONGRASS (Cymbopogon) : Baseline Data

Introduction:

Modernization and improvement of technology in agriculture mechanization is an effective way in uplifting the productivity and quality of products to the livelihood of the people, most importantly to those who are engaged in agriculture.

Essential oil used as flavorings, perfumes and medicinal treatment is virtually competitive both in the local and foreign market. There are different ways in oil extraction processing and oil essential content determination processes, from the easiest and simplest traditional method to the newest and modernized one. Traditional method of the extraction of oil from plant is way time consuming and will require a high labor cost. With this, searching for the information and baseline data of the plant lemongrass will be conducted for the future references of the development of lemongrass essential oil. The outcome of this research work will help students on what research development or innovation related to this plant will they conduct later on.

Objectives:

This review aims to give the information and baseline data of the lemongrass for future references, which includes its related literatures and studies, industry situationer, processing technologies, processing information’s and standards , the existing technologies including the traditional one and the tools and equipment being used in the research developments of this crop.

Related Literature

Lemongrass is a tropical perennial plant, also known as citronella grass grows in tropical climates. Its stalks are fibrous and smell much like lemons which can reach anywhere between six to ten feet in height and grow in clusters, similar to spider plants. This stalk consists of a pink base, a few tough green husks, and a white core, which is used in cooking. The flavor of lemongrass is characterized by mild citrus notes. Lemongrass is one of approximately 55 other species of grasses in the Poaceae family of grasses. This plant constitute hundreds of organic compounds including organic Sulphur, terpenoids, benzenoids and nitrogenous compounds, which work at different levels. Lemongrass is in folk medicine as used as an antispasmodic, hypotensive, anticonvulsant, analgesic, antiemetic, antitussive, antirheumatic, antiseptic and treatment for nervous and gastrointestinal disorders and fevers. The plant is also used as fragrance, flavoring agent an antibacterial, antidiarrheal and antioxidant.

The use of lemon grass for cooking and herbal medicine dates back for at least five thousand years. Asian and African cultures was the root of the deep history of this plant, and it has been cultivated in Southeast Asia for the past two thousand years. Lemongrass, has been used traditionally for medicinal, cosmetic and culinary purposes in tropical regions such as Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Oceania where it is native.

Reports found shows that lemongrass essential oil might have been exported in the Philippine as early as the 17th century. However, the distribution was limited and the oil remained quite secretive at that time. Several years later, J.F. Jovit, a researcher from Sri Lanka found himself with several lemongrass plants or the “Kochin Sera” plants (Cymbopogon citrates) way back in 1905 and planted them at Bandarawela Farm in Sri Lanka for research purposes. Later on, the word of the plant spread quickly as he learned more about it and the oil it produces. For the attribution of the quick success of the oil in the world market, the closely related citronella oil was displayed at the World’s Fair at London’s Crystal Palace in 1951.

By 1947, the first commercial cultivation of lemongrass oil was held at Florida and Haiti. Lemongrass Essential Oil is extracted from the steam distillation of the fresh or partly dried Lemongrass leaves. The oil it produces ranges in color from yellow to amber and exudes a fresh, sweet, grassy and citrus-like aroma after the distillation. The pioneering research on its oil extraction was done at the National Institute of Science and Technology (now Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) in the early 1980s (Coronel, 1984).

Lemongrass is one of the most popular essential oils used today, due to its effectiveness, health benefits, and a wide variety of applications. It is most commonly used to relieve digestive issues, reduce bodily aches, pains, and high temperatures, and eliminate harmful bacteria. The world’s largest quantity producer of lemongrass is from India. Lemongrass which yields aromatic oil or essential oils are highly concentrated secondary metabolites of diverse functions in plant system. Its name is derived from the typical lemony odour of the essential oil present in the shoot. Dried lemongrass leaves are widely used as a lemon flavor ingredient in herbal teas, prepared either by decoction or infusion. Lemongrass oil is used in most of the major categories of food including frozen dairy desserts, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, candy baked foods, gelatines and puddings, meat and meat products and fat and oils; it is usually used in culinary flavorings. Lemongrass has extensive medicinal value as anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-septic, anti-asthamatic, urinary tract infections, pesticide and preservative. The leaves are used in the treatment of cough, fever, depression, nervous disorder and skin irritations. Plant decoction is used popularly in digestive complaints, headache and to promote sweating. It is also used as carminative and insect repellent and is now used widely as cosmeceuticals in the preparation of perfumes and cosmetics.

Of the multiple varieties of lemongrass, the two most popular ones are Cymbopogon citratus and Cymbopogon flexuosus. The former is largely used for culinary purposes, whereas the latter is more popular for use in perfumes and essential oils, these two can be used to produce essential oils.

Lemongrass oil is simply the essential oil, it is naturally derived from the steam distillation of the fresh or partly dried Lemongrass leaves. To ensure that the lemongrass leaves will retain its green color and be free of fungi, it should be dried, but not over dried, as soon as possible within 24 hours either by conventional dryer or sun drying process. To avoid the oil to yield or compromised its quality, leaves may be stored in shade for up to 3 days after being harvested.

Industry Situationer (Philippines)

Lemongrass found its way in the Philippines during the pre-colonial times. The demand for Lemongrass in the Philippines currently is generally from the food industry. It is used all over the country in culinary preparations as flavorings, and slowly, the therapeutic benefits of it is being recognized now. The upland farms of Negros produces lemongrass essential oil wherein after being grown and harvested, it is extracted via distillation.

In Nagcarlan, Laguna, Philippines, the present study about the Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf aimed to obtain a detailed knowledge about its composition of hydro-distilled volatile oil. Several investigations about the lemongrass oil has been done in the Philippines, but chemical studies to define its chemical composition was not yet undertaken.

Mambugsay, Cauayan, Negros Occidental is another producer of lemongrass, it was funded by the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) arm of Japan’s wider Official Development Assistance (ODA) program since 2013. A turnover ceremony led by the Embassy of Japan’s First Secretary Kenji Terada and Philippine officials was held last August 8, 2019 for the launching of Japan-funded distillery for lemongrass oil.

Processing Technologies

Currently, the most popular method for the extraction of the lemongrass essential oil is steam distillation. It is mainly used for temperature-sensitive materials like oils, resins, hydrocarbons, etc.

A number of ways of extraction such as extraction with liquid carbon dioxide, vacuum-tight distillation, and warm fermentation prior to distillation have been developed for special cases. The headspace technique, a process that was introduced in the '70s was found very useful in accounting for the greatest number of volatiles from plant materials. The sample volatiles are being trapped by a porous material and is brought into equilibrium with a gas phase over it in a closed vessel after which a certain volume of the gas phase is injected into a GC for qualitative and quantitative purposes. Piercing the oil sac of the plant and drawing the oil by means of a syringe-like glass capillary, and analyzing directly with GLC, is a method claimed to yield the genuine essential oil.

Essential oil was obtained from air-dried leaves by hydro-distillation for two hours. The oil obtained may be subjected to gas chromatography to fully determine its content, where a Shimadzu GC-14A model with a flame ionization detector and CBP-20 wall coated fused silica (12 m. x 0.25 mm. ID) may be used. Analysis was done by programming the oven temperature from 70-180 degrees centigrade at 4 degrees centigrade/min. for 15 mins. Injection port and detector temperatures were adjusted to 230 degrees centigrade. Components may be identified by a peak enrichment method using standards.

Processing Information’s and Standards

Lemongrass can be harvested as frequently as once every month through the growing season, it can be harvested 6-9 months after the slips are planted. To allow the evaporation of dew and to avoid loss of the plants color due to heat it should be harvested in the morning on a dry day. Sharp tools and machinery are use when harvested mechanically, to ensure a clean cut and to avid splitting the edges of the leaves. Lemongrass leaves must be dried as soon as possible within 24 hours to keep its green color and be free from fungi.

Sickles are a big help in the harvesting of the lemongrass, it should be cut 10cm above ground level. Allow it to wit for 24 hours before distillation as it reduces its moisture content by 30% and improves oil yield. Before filling in the stills, the lemon crop is chopped into small pieces. Then it can be distilled in distilleries. After the steam distillation of the fresh or partly dried leaves cone the lemongrass essential oil, its oil exudes fresh, sweet, grassy an citrus-like aroma and ranges its color from a yellow color to amber color which is collected by distillation unit of herbage for 1.5 to 2 hours. Floating over the bulk of water which is composed by decantation, this layer of oil separates from the distillation cooling. It takes about 4 hours for the complete recovery of the oil.

Existing Technologies (Including the Traditional)

The traditional methods of extracting the lemongrass oil are distillation, extraction and extraction with low-boiling solvents. Among these, distillation is the most commonly used method.

Today there are lots of oil extractor machineries available in the market worldwide by means of the modernization of technologies. Lemongrass oil extraction machineries and equipment vary from its quantity and quality capacitance all over the world. An example of this is the SUPERCRITICAL CO2 EXTRACTION EQUIPMENT which has the working mode being intermittent or continuous way to extract solvent from solid or liquid material wherein the liquid CO2 flow through pre-heater to heat after pump by CO2 high pressure pump, then flow to extractor, then the outlet temperature will be controlled automatic. Solvent extraction processing, microwave assisted hydro distillation and lemongrass oil extraction machineries are also available in the world market today.

Tools and Equipment:

Farm tools or agricultural equipment are the term used for any equipment, tool or machinery used in farm. Types of such equipment’s ranges from hand tools to power operated machinery. These are commonly used to till, transplant, seed, irrigate, spread chemicals, and transport, wherein different categories of these farm equipment varies depending on the intensity of work being carried out.

In the process of farmland preparation for the plantation, maintenance and harvesting of the lemongrass, the farm equipment and hand tools such as hand cultivator, twine cutter, digging fork, hay knife, sprinkle, sprayer, shovel, spade, harrow, tractors, cultivators, bolo, ditching tools, rake sickle and planter may be used to perform the work easier.

Related Studies

Lemongrass Essential Oil Different studies about the essential oil of lemongrass with its properties and benefits has been conducted all over the world. Its uses has been a great help in the food flavoring, medicinal aspect, for antioxidant, and many more. It has been studied for its noteworthy chemical compositions and uses.

From Singapore, the study of “Antibacterial Activity of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon Citratus) Oil Against Some Selected Pathogenic Bacterias”, conducted by Mohd Irfan Naik et. al, lemongrass oil was investigated for activity against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Bacillus cereus (B. cereus), Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), to find the effectiveness of its essential for the treatment of pathogenic organism. Using Agar Diffusion Method and Broth Dilution Method, the results shows that Lemongrass was found effective against all the test organisms except P. aeruginosa. The tested organisms, particularly gram-negative organisms has high resistance towards different antibiotics whereas they were found to be inhibited by lemongrass oil even at lower concentration. Thus lemongrass oil is effective against drug resistant organisms. It can be suggested that use of lemongrass oil would be helpful in the treatment of infections caused by multidrug resistant organisms.

In Indonesia, the study of “Bioactive Compounds Of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon Citratus) Essential Oil From Different Parts Of The Plant And Distillation Methods As Natural Antioxidant In Broiler Meat”, conducted by E S Hartatie et. al, they investigate the bioactive compounds of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil from its different parts (leaves, stalk and whole plant) and the distillation methods as natural antioxidant in broiler meat by means of steam water distillation and water distillation. The results shows that the bioactive compounds of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential Oil from different parts of the plant and different distillation method are very varied and it has different percentage inhibition. On steam water distillation, the highest value of antioxidant activity come from lemongrass stalk. While in water distillation method, the highest value of antioxidant activity come from whole plant of lemongrass. Based on average of antioxidant activity, Lemongrass oil can use as natural antioxidant in broiler meat.

According to Alwani Hamad, Anggi Nuritasari, and Dwi Hartanti in their study “Chemical Composition And Antimicrobial Study Of Essential Oil Of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon Citratus)” in Indonesia, the essential oil of lemongrass consisted of 40 components, with geranial (45.058%) and neral (33.100%) as major constituents. The MIC of essential oil of lemongrass against B. subtilis and S. aureus was 31.25 µg/mL and 125 µg/mL, respectively. Somehow it was inactive against S. typhimurium, V. cholera, and E. coli. They found out that the essential oil of lemongrass was mainly consisted of neral and geranial. These two aldehydes compounds were responsible for moderate to strong antimicrobial activity of essential oil of lemongrass against B. subtilis and S. aureus.

From Algeria, the study of “Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon Citratus) Essential Oil As a Potent Anti-inflammatory and Antifungal Drugs”, conducted by Mohamed Nadjib Boukhatem et. al, lemon grass essential oil (LGEO) was evaluated for its in vivo topical and oral anti-inflammatory effects, and for its in vitro antifungal activity using both liquid and vapor phases. The chemical profile of LGEO as determined by gas chromatography– mass spectrometry analysis revealed two major components: geranial (42.2%), and neral (31.5%). The antifungal activity of LGEO was evaluated against several pathogenic yeasts and filamentous fungi using disc diffusion and vapor diffusion methods. The results of the study shows that the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory effect, LGEO (10 mg/kg, administered orally) significantly reduced carrageenan-induced paw edema with a similar effect to that observed for oral diclofenac (50 mg/kg), which was used as the positive control. The topical application of LGEO at doses of 5 and 10 µL/ear significantly reduced acute ear edema induced by croton oil in 62.5 and 75% of the mice, respectively. In addition, topical application of LGEO in vivo resulted in a potent a nti-inflammatory effect as demonstrated by using the mouse model of croton oil-induced ear edema and histological analysis clearly confirmed that LGEO inhibits the skin inflammatory response in animal models. The study indicates that LGEO has a noteworthy potential for the development of drugs for the treatment of fungal infections and skin inflammation that should be explored in future studies. According to the study “Antimicrobial Activity Of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon Citratus) Oil Against Microbes Of Environmental, Clinical And Food Origin” in India, conducted by Bhoj Raj Singh et. al, out of the 1114 strains belonging to 29 genera and 105 species of microbes (molds, yeasts and bacteria) isolated from different sources [clinical cases, environment (water, air, soil, droppings of lizards and birds), food and healthy animals], 38.2% were sensitive to lemongrass oil discs containing 50 µg oil/disc. All molds, yeasts, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Morganella morganii, most of the Bacillus spp. strains (84.3%), aeromonads (78%), Edwardsiella spp. (73.9%), 53.6% pseudomonads, 53.1% streptococci and 50% of Budvicia aquatica and Leminorella ghirmontii strains were sensitive to lemongrass oil (LGO). On the other hand, all Hafnea alvei, Laclercia adecarboxylata, Xenorhabdus luminescens and majority of Salmonella enterica (98.3%), Citrobacter spp. (93.7%), Providencia spp. and Kluyvera cryocrescens (83.3%), Enterobacter spp. (78.2%), Proteus spp. (78%), Escherichia spp. (77.7%), enterococci (73.7%), Serratia spp. (75%) and Erwinia ananas (75%), Pragia fontium (70.6%), staphylococci (69.8%) and Klebsiella spp. (62.7%) strains were resistant to LGO. MIC of LGO for sensitive strains (tested against discs containing 50 µg LGO) varied from 1 µg to 32 µg /ml while none of the resistant strains had MIC.

In the Philippine study “ Stability Studies Of Essential Oils From Some Philippine Plant II. Cymbopogon Citratus (D.C.) STAPF”, conducted by Minda Flor T. Brandares et. al, lemongrass oil being extracted from fresh, air-dried, and wilted leaves of Cypobogon Citratus (D.C.) STAPF by water distillation shows that oil extracted from fresh leaves was the most stable compared to those from the air dried and wilted leaves sample. The rates of evaporation of the oil under direct sunlight was 3 times faster than at room temperature and 46 times faster than at refrigerated condition. The study found out that the light and length of storage caused a deterioration in the quality of the oil as shown by a decrease in citral content.

REFERENCES

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E S Hartatie et. al (2019).Bioactive Compounds Of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon Citratus) Essential Oil From Different Parts Of The Plant And Distillation Methods As Natural Antioxidant In Broiler Meat. Retrieved from: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/532/1/012018

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1. Japan Funds Lemongrass Oil Distillery In Negros. https://www.manilatimes.net/2016/08/25/business/japan-funds-lemongrass-oil-distillery-in-negros/281929/

2. Lemongrass Essential Oil. http://www.thecasadelorenzo.com/2012/04/lemongrass-essential-oil.html

3. Lemongrass Essential Oil: Benefits And Uses For Hair, Skin, And Joints. https://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/blog/products/all-about-lemongrass-oil.html

4. Lemongrass Essential Oil History. http://sallysorganics.com/lemongrass- 2/lemongrass-history/

5. Supercritical Co2 Extraction Equipment. https://www.cntradematt.com/scfe-special/gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqvHhtPz36wIVtcEWBR3qXAWAEAAYAiAAEgL_a PD_BwE

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