Cymbopogon
| Lemon Grass | |
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| Lemon grass plant | |
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| Genus: | Cymbopogon |
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About 55, see text | |
Cymbopogon (lemongrass) is a genus of about 55 species of grasses, (of which the type species is Cymbopogon citratus) native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Old World and Oceania. It is a tall perennial grass. Common names include lemon grass, lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, citronella grass,cha de Dartigalongue, fever grass, tanglad, hierba Luisa or gavati chaha amongst many others.
Uses
Lemongrass is native to the Philippines. It is widely used as a herb in Asian cuisine. It has a subtle citrus flavor and can be dried and powdered, or used fresh.
Lemongrass is commonly used in teas, soups, and curries. It is also suitable for poultry, fish, beef, and seafood. It is often used as a tea in African countries such as Togo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Latin American countries such as Mexico.
Lemongrass oil is used as a pesticide and a preservative. Research shows that lemongrass oil has anti-fungal properties.[1]
Citronella Grass (Cymbopogon nardus and Cymbopogon winterianus) is similar to the species above but grows to 2 m and has red base stems. These species are used for the production of citronella oil, which is used in soaps, as an insect repellent in insect sprays and candles, and also in aromatherapy, which is famous in Bintan Island, Indonesia. The principal chemical constituents of citronella, geraniol and citronellol, are antiseptics, hence their use in household disinfectants and soaps. Besides oil production, citronella grass is also used for culinary purposes, in tea and as a flavoring.
Lemon Grass Oil, used as a pesticide and preservative, is put on the ancient palm-leaf manuscripts found in India as a preservative. It is used at the Oriental Research Institute Mysore, the French Institute of Pondicherry, the Association for the Preservation of the Saint Thomas Christian Heritage in Kerala and many other manuscript collections in India. The lemon grass oil also injects natural fluidity into the brittle palm leaves and the hydrophobic nature of the oil keeps the manuscripts dry so that the text is not lost to decay due to humidity.
East-Indian Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon flexuosus), also called Cochin Grass or Malabar Grass (Malayalam: ഇഞ്ചിപ്പുല്ല്(inchippullu), is native to Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Burma,and Thailand while the West-Indian lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), also known as serai in Malay, is assumed to have its origins in Malaysia. Indonesian people used to called it serai too or sereh. While both can be used interchangeably, C. citratus is more suited for cooking. In India C. citratus is used both as a medical herb and in perfumes. Cymbopogon citratus is consumed as a tea for anxiety in Brazilian folk medicine,[2] but a study in humans found no effect.[3] The tea caused a recurrence of contact dermatitis in one case.[4]
Lemon grass is also known as Gavati Chaha (गवती चहा) in the Marathi language (Gavat=grass; Chaha=tea), and is used as an addition to tea, and in preparations like 'kadha,' which is a traditional herbal 'soup' used against coughs, colds, etc. It has medicinal properties and is used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine. It is supposed to help with relieving cough and nasal congestion.
In Kerala, lemon grass is steeped as an herbal tea called "Chukku Kaapi", literally "dried ginger coffee".[citation needed]
Anti-carcinogenic properties
In 2006, a research team from the Ben Gurion University in Israel found that lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) caused apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells. Through in vitro studies, the researchers examined the effect of citral, a molecule found in lemon grass, on both normal and cancerous cells. Using concentrations of citral equivalent to the quantity in a cup of tea (one gram of lemon grass in hot water), the researchers observed that citral induces programmed cell death in the cancerous cells, while the normal cells were left unharmed.[5] In 2009 further experiments both in-vitro and in-vivo have been conducted producing promising results, and proposing the oil as an alternative method for cancer treatment. [6]
Images
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Lemon grass at a market -
Prepared Lemongrass -
Fresh Lemongrass
Partial species list
- Cymbopogon ambiguus Australian lemon-scented grass (native of Australia)
- Cymbopogon bombycinus Silky Oilgrass (native of Australia)
- Cymbopogon citratus Lemon Grass (Chinese: 香茅草; pinyin: xiāng máo căo)
- Cymbopogon citriodora West Indian lemon grass
- Cymbopogon flexuosus East Indian lemon grass
- Cymbopogon martinii Palmarosa
- Cymbopogon nardus Citronella Grass (In Thai language ตะไคร้หอม [dTa-Khrai-Hawm]
- Cymbopogon obtectus Silky-heads (native of Australia)
- Cymbopogon procerus (native of Australia)
- Cymbopogon proximus found in Egypt
- Cymbopogon refractus Barbed wire grass (native of Australia)
- Cymbopogon schoenanthus or camel hay or camel grass, southern Asia and northern Africa [citation needed]
- Cymbopogon winterianus Citronella Grass
Notes
- ^ Shadab, Q., Hanif, M. & Chaudhary, F.M. (1992) Antifungal activity by lemongrass essential oils. Pak. J. Sci. Ind. Res. 35, 246-249.
- ^ Blanco MM, Costa CA, Freire AO, Santos JG, Costa M (2009). "Neurobehavioral effect of essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus in mice". Phytomedicine. 16 (2–3): 265–70. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2007.04.007. PMID 17561386.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Leite JR, Seabra Mde L, Maluf E; et al. (1986). "Pharmacology of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf). III. Assessment of eventual toxic, hypnotic and anxiolytic effects on humans". J Ethnopharmacol. 17 (1): 75–83. doi:10.1016/0378-8741(86)90074-7. PMID 2429120.
{{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Bleasel N, Tate B, Rademaker M (2002). "Allergic contact dermatitis following exposure to essential oils". Australas. J. Dermatol. 43 (3): 211–3. doi:10.1046/j.1440-0960.2002.00598.x. PMID 12121401.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Dudai N, Weinstein Y, Krup M, Rabinski T, Ofir R (2005). "Citral is a new inducer of caspase-3 in tumor cell lines". Planta Med. 71 (5): 484–8. doi:10.1055/s-2005-864146. PMID 15931590.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Parduman R. Sharma and Dilip M. Mondhe and Shanmugavel Muthiah and Harish C. Pal and Ashok K. Shahi and Ajit K. Saxena and Ghulam N. Qazi (2009). "Anticancer activity of an essential oil from Cymbopogon flexuosus". Chemico-Biological Interactions. 179 (2–3): 160–168. doi:0.1016/j.cbi.2008.12.004. PMID 15931590.
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