Cymbopogon citratus, better known as lemongrass, is a plant commonly used for culinary purposes. It is known to contain the compound citronellal, which is responsible for the lemon-scent of many of the plants of the genus Cymbopogon. A chloroform extract of Cymbopogon citratus was screened to determine its free radical scavenging activities. Three different methods were used to test the antioxi...

A bulk collection of terminal branchlets was made from J. pinchotii and subjected to drying at 42oC (24 hrs), then stored for up to 24 mos. at 22oC (room temperature, RT). The oils were distilled and analyzed from fresh, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 24 mos. storage at RT. The oil yields showed a slight decline initially, but remained fairly constant. Camphor, camphene hydrate and citronellal declin...

The efficient citral hydrogenation was achieved in aqueous media using Pd/CMS and alkali additives like K2CO3. The alkali concentrations, reaction temperature and the Pd metal content were optimized to enhance the citral hydrogenation under aqueous media. In the absence of alkali, citral hydrogenation was low and addition of alkali promoted to ~92% hydrogenation without reduction in the selecti...

Phytochemical characters were evaluated in a five-year-old lemon balm collection consisting of 15 and 13 subspecies officinalis and altissima accessions, respectively. Stems were lower in essential oil than leaves. First cut leaves (June) gave more oil than those of the second cut (August). Subspecies officinalis plants had leaf oils rich in geranial, neral and citronellal in various proportion...