The lemon grass, Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf, is an important species of Poaceae family commonly used in the folk medicine in many countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of aqueous extracts from C. citratus leaves on Lactuca sativa (lettuce) root tip meristem cells by cytogenetic studies that have never been done before for lemon grass extract...

The concentration and the chemical composition of the essential oils obtained from different samples of Cymbopogon citratus were evaluated. Among the 12 samples investigated (11 dried leaf samples and fresh plant leaves), seven presented essential oil concentrations within the threshold established by the Brazilian legislation. The moisture content was also determined and the majority of the sa...

AIMS To develop a natural fungicide against aflatoxigenic fungi, to protect stored rice, using the essential oil of lemongrass. METHODS AND RESULTS Aspergillus flavus Link. was isolated from stored rice and identified as an aflatoxigenic strain. Lemongrass oil was tested against A. flavus and the test oil was fungistatic and fungicidal against the test pathogen at 0.6 and 1.0 mg ml(-1), respe...

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf.) is a common herb used in cooking and recognized for its many health benefits. This study measured the antioxidant activity and citral content in lemongrass extracts made from air-dried and fresh plants by decoction and infusion. The plants were collected from one area each from three different municipalities in Iloilo (Pavia, Jaro and Lapaz) and two baran...

The effects of Cymbopogon citratus (lemon grass) on the detoxification of cassava tubers and the sensory evaluation of their cassava fufu products were investigated. One kilogram of freshly harvested cassava tuber was fermented with varying amounts (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 g) of lemon grass for one to five days. Fermentation resulted in a decrease in the cyanide content and this was signific...

In field trails on lemongrass (Cymbopogon citrates), the effect of growth regulators, viz. indole butyric acid (IBA) and mepiquat chloride (MC), and their mode of application was studied to assess their effects on growth, oil yield and hormonal contents. The results suggested that application of growth regulators had no favourable effect on growth and oil yields in lemon grass. However, applica...

The Curvularia Leaf Spot is becoming more common due to the culture expansion and the low resistance of the cultivated genotypes in tropical regions. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the fungitoxicity of the essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus upon the phytopathogen Curvularia lunata, causative agent of the Curvularia Leaf Spot. There was realized pathogenicity tests of C. lunata in maize p...

Essential oils are mixtures of volatile, lipophilic compounds originating from plants. Some essential oils have useful biological activities including antimicrobial, spasmolytic, antiplasmodial, and insect-repelling activities. In this study, we tested the antimicrobial activity of essential oil prepared from the aromatic plant, Cymbopogon citrates, against three important plant pathogenic and ...

Folk medicine is a relevant and effective part of indigenous healthcare systems which are, in practice, totally dependent on traditional healers. An outstanding coincidence between indigenous medicinal plant uses and scientifically proved pharmacological properties of several phytochemicals has been observed along the years. This work focused on the leaves of a medicinal plant traditionally use...

Many of the plant species found that it can be used medically (Ali-Shtayeh and Abu, 1999). Essential oils are aromatic substances which are obtained from various plant parts by steam distillation; many of which exhibit antibacterial (Ozcan et al., 2006), antifungal (Chee and Lee, 2007) and antiviral (Khan et al., 2005) activity. Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) is widely used in traditional med...