Journal of Essential Oil Research

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Cymbopogon nardus essential oil: a comprehensive

review on its chemistry and bioactivity

Harneet Kaur, Urvashi Bhardwaj & Ramandeep Kaur

To cite this article: Harneet Kaur, Urvashi Bhardwaj & Ramandeep Kaur (2021) Cymbopogon
nardus essential oil: a comprehensive review on its chemistry and bioactivity, Journal of Essential
Oil Research, 33:3, 205-220, DOI: 10.1080/10412905.2021.1871976

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JOURNAL OF ESSENTIAL OIL RESEARCH
2021, VOL. 33, NO. 3, 205–220
https://doi.org/10.1080/10412905.2021.1871976

Cymbopogon nardus essential oil: a comprehensive review on its chemistry and

bioactivity
Harneet Kaur, Urvashi Bhardwaj and Ramandeep Kaur
Department of Chemistry, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Increasing knowledge about the various properties exhibited by essential oils led to a sharp Received 6 April 2020
expansion in their production and utilization. Citronella essential oil is one of the commercially Accepted 28 December 2020
important essential oil having multiple applications in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. KEYWORDS
Its essential oil is highly valued in the National and International markets. It is extracted from Cymbopogon nardus;
perennial grass citronella (Cymbopogon nardus (L.) Rendle) belonging to the family Poaceae. This essential oil; chemical
review aims to coherently discuss and compare various factors significantly affecting the chemical composition and biological
composition of essential oil. Citronellal, citronellol and geraniol are major constituents of C. nardus activity
essential oil. The review also discusses the important biological properties exhibited by citronella
essential oil along with the toxicological and safety aspects of citronella essential oil. This informa­
tion will offer a new perspective for the further utilization of essential oil in various fields.

1. Introduction South India and Sri Lanka (2). It is cultivated mainly in

Essential oils have been used for traditional medicinal
purposes since ancient times (1). The recent interest in
green consumerism has lead to the renewal of scientific
interest in these substances classified as GRAS
(Generally recognized as safe). These natural products
are given preference to synthetic ones. In the last dec­
ade, there is continuous growth in the inclination of
industry towards the utilization of essential oil due to
their great application as flavour additives, fragrance in
perfumes or for its pharmaceutical properties (2). India
ranks 3rd position in essential oil production in the
world. Among various crops grown for essential oil,
lemon, roses, grapes, citrus, eucalyptus, citronella grass
have attained commercial significance (3). Due to the
success of natural herbs and sales of environment
friendly products with encouraging returns, many
entrepreneurs and herbal companies are currently
developing plantations of aromatic plants such as citro­
nella grass (4). In 2011, production of citronella essen­
tial oil was 100 metric tonnes. Citronella essential oil is
in particular highly valued due to its insecticidal activ­
ities (5).
Citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus L. Rendle) is
perennial grass belonging to the family Poaceae. It
includes 140 aromatic species (6). It is commonly
known as ganjni (Hindi), kamakher (Bengali), usadhana
(Marathi), kamachipillu (Tamil), kamkshi- kasuvu
(Telgu), khavai (Punjabi). Citronella grass is native to
tropical and subtropical regions of America, Africa and
Asia including Brazil (7). It is commercially grown in
the south-eastern parts of Asia (mainly in Burma, Sri
Lanka, India, Ceylon, Taiwan, Indonesia) and West
Indies.
Citronella is usually confused with lemongrass but
the lemongrass comes from the Cymbopogon species
C. citratus, C. pendulus and C. flexuosus and consists
of citral (cis and trans) as the active ingredient (8)
whereas the two species of citronella i.e.,
C. winterianus and C. nardus contain citronellal (mono­
terpene aldehyde) as its major constituents and the
other active compounds are citronellol and geraniol,
respectively (9,10). The distinct chemical composition
of lemon and citronella grass refers to different medic­
inal properties. Lemongrass is used as an analgesic,
antipyretic, antiplasmodic, sedative, diuretic and in the
treatment of gastrointestinal and nervous disturbances
(11). On the other hand, citronella is used for rheuma­
tism, menstrual problems, fevers and intestinal para­
sites (12).
Citronella refers to two species of perennial tropical,
essential oil-bearing grasses of genus Cymbopogon viz.
Java (C. winterianus) and Ceylon (C. nardus). These two
species are distinct from each other both morphologi­
cally and biochemically (13). In the Java type, the root is
shallow, culm is tall (2.5 m), the color of cross section of
non-flowering branch is yellow, panicle is opened

CONTACT Urvashi Bhardwaj bhardwajurvashi@gmail.com

© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
206 H. KAUR ET AL.
(50 cm long), three veins at lower glume, shorter and
broader leaves, narrow-winged spikelets and the inflor­
escence is 60–100 cm tall while in case of Ceylon type,
the root is deep, culm is short (2 m), cross section of
non-flowering branch is red, panicle contracted
(15–30 cm long), no vein at lower glume, long and
narrow leaves, concave winged spikelets and the inflor­
escence is 15–60 cm long (14). The major constituents
in C. winterianus essential oil includes citronellal, citro­
nellol, geraniol, nerol, elemol, methyl isoeugenol while
citronellal, citronellol, geraniol, camphene, limonene,
1-borneol, methyl isoeugenol, geranyl formate are the
major constituents of C. nardus essential oil. However,
this article presents a literature review of C. nardus
(Ceylon species) of citronella.
The objective of this paper is to provide an overview
of various factors affecting the chemical composition of
citronella (C. nardus) essential oil. This review also
compiled the published data on the various biological
properties exhibited by essential oil to provide this
essential oil as a potential source for the development
of pharmacological agents.
This study is based on a literature search from
1973 year to April 2020 to find all relevant articles
published. The search was performed through specia­
lized databases (Lilacs, Scielo, Science Direct, and
PubMed) using citronella, Cymbopogon nardus,
Biological activity, chemical composition as keywords.
2. Botanical description
Citronella is evergreen and aromatic grass. It grows
2.5 m tall from rootstock and is clamp-forming grass.
It is a long-lived grass having narrow leaf-blades. The
panicles are 15–30 cm long and are narrow with
unbranched inflorescence racemes, 8–10 mm long
with long and soft hairs present around it. The spike­
lets are without stalks, flat and concave winged keels on
the back (15). It is branched above and a large decom­
pound nodding panicle is formed (16). At the base,
culms are up to 10 mm in diameter and are solid,
polished, with black finely glabrescent nodes. The
leaves are long and narrow 0.5 to 1.6 cm wide, 1 m
long with ribbon-like blade at the greenish green end,
with a white-coloured midrib and upper cauline over
9 mm wide which is narrowed to the base. The apex of
the leaf is filiform and is glaucous beneath with scab­
rous margins and is glabrous except the top of the
sheath. It can tolerate the temperatures and annual
rainfall of 16–36°C and 750–4100 mm but grows best
in the areas where temperature and annual rainfall
ranges between 20 and 30°C and 1300–2000 mm. The
sandy loamy soil with high moisture content (without
water logging) is best for the proper growth of the
citronella plant. The most ideal season for the planting
of the plant is rainy season while summers and early
winters are favourable during harvest. The first harvest
takes place 6 months after the crop plantation and can
be harvested three to four times in the year with the
2.5–3 months interval. The oil yield gets reduced if the
harvest is done in the late winters (17). The post-
harvest drying of the plant material can increase the
shelf life as it leads to the reduction of the moisture
content and prevention of the enzymatic and microbial
activity of the plant (18). The Scientific classification of
C. nardus is as follows:
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Cymbopogon
Species: Nardus
3. Traditional and modern utility
In Ayurveda, citronella is referred as Pangiri and is
used in the treatment of redness, irritation, toothaches
and inflammation of the skin, rheumatism, digestive
problems, headache, infectious diseases, fatigue and
childbirth wash. In Thailand and China, citronella
essential oil was used traditionally for the treatment
of irritable bowel, stomach ache, intestinal cramps,
gastritis, indigestion, flatulence and also as a blood
tonic (19,20). Since Vedic times, it has been used in
aromatic tea, diuretic, antipyretic, vermifuge and also
in the treatment of mental illness (21). It is also used
for the treatment of intestinal problems, fever, and in
aromatherapy for treatment of cold, headaches and flu
(20). Nowadays, the essential oil obtained is found to
have values in soaps, toiletry, perfumery, tobacco, cos­
metics, insect repellent packaging, body care products
and also in the pharmaceutical industries (2,21,22).
The essential oil was also used to repel cats (23).
C. nardus is found to contain cellulosic fibres and is
used in the paper industry for preparation of pulp for
paper industry with less environmental threats (24). The
properties of the pulp, paper and raw material of
C. nardus is same as that of non-wood materials.
C. nardus contained high α-cellulose (35%), holocellu­
lose, low alcohol-benzene extractive (5.14%), low lignin
content low ash content (3.66%) and lowest sodium
hydroxide extractives (25.99%). C. nardus pulp required
less energy for pulping as compared to wood pulp and
the properties can be improved by beating pulp up to

500 PFI revolutions. C. nardus grass has a potential to
replace hardwood pulp in news, toilet, writing papers.
Hence, C. nardus grass is recommended for paper pro­
duction (24).
The fumigation effect of citronella essential oil on the
quality of potato tubers and sprout suppression during
storage was investigated. They involve the treatment of
potato tubers with citronella essential oil fumigation. It
was reported that the citronella essential oil fumigation
results in reducing sugar content, suppressing the gib­
berellin production, decreasing the level of α-solanine,
and inhibits the degradation of starch. Hence, citronella
oil fumigation leads to the control of sprouting and
helps in improving the quality of potato tubers while
storing (25).
4. Physical properties
The yellowish coloured citronella essential oil (b.p. 70°
C) has a refractive index and the specific gravity of 1.47
and 0.89 g/cm3 respectively obtained by different meth­
ods at 20°C. The red and yellow colour of citronella oil
has also been reported. The reddish colour of citronella
oil might be due to the presence of trans-β-
caryophyllene and γ-cadinene. The oxidation of lipids
in the extraction systems might also be reason behind
the appearance of the red colour. No red colour
appeared during the extraction using hydrodistillation
process (26). The variation of physical properties of
citronella essential oil with the age of leaves is given in
Table 1.
The essential oil is slightly soluble in water and solu­
ble in hexane, ether. It can be stored under normal
conditions and is noncorrosive. It can persist for about
425 h with a flash point of 170°C.
5. Chemical composition
The chemical composition of citronella essential oil
varies with the geographical origin, environmental fac­
tors, ecological and climatic conditions, developmental
stages, harvest time, genetic factors. In addition to these,
Table 1. The comparison of physical parameters of the citronella
essential oil at 25°C (41).
Density Refractive
Age of leaves Smell gmL−1 index Main composition (%)
1–5 months Fragrant 0.854 1.466 Citronellal (39.66),
lemon Citronellol (12.98),
Geraniol (18.83)
6–10 months Pungent 0.873 1.475 Citronellal (4.8),
lemon Citronellol (6.69)
Geraniol (46.10), Citral
(cis, trans)(26.61),
Nerol(4.23).
JOURNAL OF ESSENTIAL OIL RESEARCH 207
the chemical composition also depends upon the
method of extraction and drying techniques.
Initially, steam distillation and hydrodistillation
were considered most convenient methods for the
extraction of citronella essential oil (10,27). Though
these processes are very simple but these are time
and energy-intensive and thereby resulting in water
solubility, thermal degradation and hydrolysis of fra­
grance constituents (28). Further Micro hydrodistilla­
tion (MHD) was introduced for extraction of citronella
essential oil (29). In the last decade, supercritical car­
bon dioxide extraction has been introduced involving
the use of carbon dioxide as a supercritical fluid for the
extraction of essential oil (30–32). The extraction with
supercritical carbon dioxide was generally performed
at low temperature. It prevents thermal degradation
and loss of thermolabile compounds. Moreover, low
critical pressure and temperature, inertness, low toxi­
city, selectivity, non-carcinogenic nature are some of
the properties of supercritical carbon dioxide (28). For
small-scale extractions, an alternative eco-friendly
method, i.e. ohmic-heated hydrodistillation has been
introduced (33). This method does not involve use of
any organic solvent during extraction and saved 46%
of total process time (34). Moreover, this process leads
to reduction in energy consumption along with the
enhancement of the product quality. The ohmic-
heated hydrodistillation results in the formation of
the transient pores in cell membranes and results in
the release of the citronella oil by opening the pores of
schizogenous cavities and hence is a better method for
the extraction of the citronella oil (35). It was found
that due to the localized heating and rapid increase in
temperature during ohmic heating, it results in the cell
and structural eruptions along with the increase in
membrane permeability (36). It was reported that on
hydrodistillation, the thyme glands were shrunk while
upon ohmic-heated hydro-distillation these glands
were erupted (34). However, metal ion migration and
residue pollution take place because of the electroche­
mical reaction between electrodes and the extraction
media (37). Therefore, selection of the proper material
as the electrodes, careful handling of the waste of
production and the proper process parameters are
necessary for the better utilization of this method.
Another method, namely, Accelerated solvent extrac­
tion (ASE) has been introduced for extraction of essen­
tial oil (29). This method utilizes the organic solvents
at high pressure and temperature and favoured because
of its speed and requirement of a small amount of
organic solvent. The essential oils sensitive to oxidative
degradation or volatilization through action of air or
light may be extracted using this method in absence of
208 H. KAUR ET AL.
light and presence of inert atmosphere (38). To
increase the efficiency of extraction another technique
i.e, sono hydrodistillation was introduced (39). Various
mechanisms involved in sonication include fragmenta­
tion, sonoporation, sonocapillary formation, erosion,
detexuration, which results in the faster recovery of
the oil (33). Due to the better heat and mass transfer,
ultrasonic waves results in faster extraction process
(40). Moreover, less energy is required for completion
of the extraction process. The yield of essential oil
extracted is largely dependent upon the method used
for extraction (Table 2). In terms of energy consump­
tion, ohmic-heated hydrodistillation is superior to
steam distillation and hydrodistillation as it requires
less energy to operate.
In a particular method employed, plant part used,
harvesting time, moisture content and packing of mate­
rial also significantly affects the yield of essential oil.
(i) Packing of leaves: It was found that the yield of the
essential oil was 0.64% in the sleeping position of the
leaves while it was 0.43% in the standing position of the
leaves. Also, the yield was 0.70% in the loose packing
while it was 0.40% in the close packing of the leaves (41).
The old leaves of C. nardus consist of high content of
geraniol while the younger leaves have high content of
citronellal and citronellol.
(ii) Moisture content: It was found that the drying
affects greatly the composition and content of the oil.
Based on dried weight, the yield of the oil from the dried
sample after 3 h distillation was 2.12% while the yield
from the fresh sample was 2.43% (42). It was hence
supposed that some of the volatile compounds are lost
during drying and hence result in the decreased oil
content. The oil obtained after 4 h distillation of dried
sample was found to have yield of 0.78% (42). Hence,
sufficient amount of water must be maintained through­
out the process otherwise it results either in the burning
of the plant material or insufficient evaporation of the
essential oil (43). However, the presence of excess water,
it results in more heat and time consumption during the
extraction.
(iii) Parts of the plant: On comparison of the yield of
the oil extracted from different parts of the plants, the
essential oil content in the leaves was 40 and 17%
Table 2. The yield of essential oil obtained using various
methods.
Sr. No. Method used Yield (%)
1. Hydrodistillation 9.4
1 (51)
2. Steam distillation 0.7
3. Ohmic heated hydro-distillation 0.37
4 Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction 2.06
higher than the stem and whole of the aerial parts.
Also, the whole aerial part was found to contain 21%
of the more essential oil as compared to the stem. The
essential oil yield obtained from the different parts of
the plant such as stems, leaves and whole aerial plant
was found to be 1.58, 2.38 and 1.92%, respectively. The
essential oil highest and lowest yield from leaves was
2.38 and 1.75%, respectively, while highest and lowest
yield from whole aerial parts was 2 and 1.75%, respec­
tively (44).
(iv)Harvesting Season: The spring-harvested leaves
yielded 3.55% of the essential oil while the winter season
leaves yielded 2.33–2.67% of the oil upon hydrodistilla­
tion (17).
(v) Extraction time: It was further observed that with
the increase in the extraction time (up to 2 h), the oil
yield increases up to 3 h but after 3 h the oil quality
decreases (45).
Hence, the yield of citronella essential oil was higher
from the fresh leaves present in the sleeping position
with loose packing. Presence of sufficient amount of
water is necessary for better yield of essential oil. The
yield of essential oil extracted from leaves was highest
followed by the essential oil extracted from whole aerial
part and the yield of essential oil extracted from stem
was the lowest. The spring-harvested leaves yielded
greater amount of essential oil with the extraction time
of 3 h.
The variations in the method used for extraction of
essential oil markedly affect the percentage composi­
tions of components of citronella essential oil (2).
However, major constituents were estimated in all
extraction methods (Table 3). In all of the extraction
methods, citronellal (16–36%), citronellol (4–13 %) and
geraniol (7–22 %) were found to be the major constitu­
ents and Eugenol (0.78–2.5%), δ-cadinene (0.36–­
1.09%), β-myrcene (0.09–2.9%) were the minor
constituents of citronella essential oil.
The chemical composition of C. nardus essential oil
was studied and its major constituents included cam­
phene, β-caryophyllene, limonene, myrcene, terpino­
lene, borneol, citronellol, geraniol, linalool, piperitol,
citral (cis and trans), citronellal, methyl heptenone,
citronellic acid, piperitone, citronellyl acetate, caryo­
phyllene oxide, geranyl acetate, geranyl butyrate, methyl
eugenol, chavicol, eugenol, methyl isoeugenol, nerol,
ocimene, elemol, η-propyl alcohol, 4-terpineol,
menthane, α-terpinene, α-thujiene, α-terpineol, α-
References pinene and β-pinene (46).
(43) The citronella essential oil mainly consists of mono­
terpenes. It contained 16 monoterpenes (73.3%), two
(41)
(42) aldehydes (30%), five hydrocarbons (8.9%), eight alco­
(42) hols (40.4%), one phenolic hydrocarbon (0.5%). The
 JOURNAL OF ESSENTIAL OIL RESEARCH 209

Table 3. Variation of chemical composition with methods of extraction.

Hydro Distillation Steam distillation
(%) (%) Ohmic heated hydro distillation
Chemical
Constituents 2 7 48 49 50 51 52 53 2 10 54 71 2
Citronellal 22.09 26.23 27.87 29.2 0.63 16.9 47.2 - 20.99 29.7 29.6 36.53 19.61
Citronellol 12.26 12.96 11.85 12.7 4.33 10.4 11.1 - 13.64 24.2 4.8 13.10 12.97
Geraniol 41.48 19.75 22.77 29.3 55.57 9.1 18.6 75.1 42.43 - - 25.56 41.15
Neral 7.97 - - - 8.34 - - 0.4 4.94 - - - 6.6
Eugenol 0.91 1.45 - - 2.51 - - - 0.78 - 1.5 - 1.06
Geranial 8.39 - 14.54 - 10.18 - - 0.5 4.39 - - - 6.42
α-Copaene - - - - 6.61 - - - - - - - -
β-caryophyllene - - - - 2.32 - - 0.1 - 2.2 6.5 - -
Humulene - - - - 1.63 - - - - - - - -
α-cubebene - - - - 1.23 - - - - - - - -
α-pinene - - - - 1.14 - - - - - - - -
δ- cardinol - - - - 0.58 - - - - - - - -
Limonene oxide - - - - 0.47 - - - - - - - -
Germacrene-D - 0.99 - - 0.2 - - - - - - 0.69 -
γ- terpeniol - - - - - - - - - 9.2 - - -
Cis-sabinene hydrate - - - - - - - - - 3.8 - - -
β-myrcene - - - - - - - 0.1 - 2.9 - - -
Borneol - - - - - - - - - 2.5 - - -
Nerol - - 11.21 - - 8 - 0.2 - 1.5 - - -
β-pinene - - - - - - - - - 1.5 - - -
Nerolidol - - - - - - - - 4.8 - - -
Germacren-4-ol - - - - - - - - - 1.5 - - -
Isoplugeol - - - - - - - - - - - 1.4 -
α-cadinol - 2.75 - - - - - - - - - - -
Elemol - 5.07 - 5 - - - 0.2 - - - 8.24 -
δ-cadinene - 4.21 - - - - - - - - - 1.09 -
β-Elemene - 2.80 - - - - - - - - - - -
Citral - 0.67 - - - - - - - - - - -
linalool - 0.71 - - - - - 1 - - - 1.1 1.63
Limonene - 2.96 - 4.1 - - - 0.4 - - 2.7 - -
Geranyl acetate 4.73 3.58 - - - 7 - 7.6 7.74 - - 1.51 5.66
Citronellyl acetate 1.37 - - - - 7.6 - - 2.13 - - 2.22 1.75
β-cubinene - - - - - 7.2 - - - - - - -
γ-cadinene - - - - - - - - 1.35 - - - 1.26

Table 4. Percentage contribution of oxygenated monoterpenes

major component identified was citronellal (29.7%) fol­ in C. nardus essential oil.
lowed by geraniol (24.2%), γ-terpineol (9.2%), along Countries Hydrocarbons Aldehyde/ketone Alcohol
with cis-sabinene hydrate, β-myrcene, borneol, nerol Malaysia (2,54) 6.1 39.25 54.35
9.2 6.3 29.6
with concentrations 3.8, 2.9, 2.5, 1.5%, respectively. China (7) 17.86 26.23 40.53
Nine sesquiterpenes (11.5%) including three alcohols India (10,50) - 29.7 33.4
17.86 19.15 62.99
(6.5%) and six hydrocarbons (5%) were also identified. Morocco (51) 7.2 16.9 20.3
Predominant sesquiterpene was (E)-nerolidol (4.8%) Brazil (48,52,71) - 42.41 45.83
- 47.2 29.7
followed by caryophyllene and germacren-4-ol, 2.2 and 5.51 36.53 51.09
1.5%, respectively. Four non-terpenic components Africa (Ivory coast) (49) 4.1 29.2 47
Bangladesh (53) 9 0.9 80.1
which comprised 1.4% of the total sample were also
detected (10). The citronella essential oil obtained
from different geographical sources has different distri­
bution of oxygenated monoterpenes (Table 4). In all the sesquiterpenes, along with great amount of their oxyge­
geographical regions, alcohol content was highest in nated derivatives. C. nardus essential oil was charac­
citronella essential oil followed by aldehyde/ketone terised by large amount of β- citronellal, β-citronellol,
and least was in hydrocarbons. Among all the regions, nerol, limonene, elemol, β-elemene, α-cadinol, germa­
alcohol content (80.1%) was highest in essential oil crene-D, cubenol, δ-cadinene, geranyl acetate and τ-
obtained from Bangladesh while carbonyl content cadinol (47).
(47.2%) was highest in the essential oil obtained from Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS)
Brazil. analysis of essential oil obtained from C. nardus con­
Citronella essential oil was characterized by the pre­ tained oxygen-containing monoterpenes (90.61%)
sence of two major chemical groups, monoterpenes and which comprised of citronellal (27.87%), geraniol
210 H. KAUR ET AL.

(22.77%), trans- citral (14.54%), citronellol (11.85%)
and nerol (11.21%) as the major compounds (48)
while the similar study reported that the percentage
composition of major constituents such as citronellal,
citronellol, geraniol, elemol and limonene was 29.2%,
12.7%, 29.3, 5 and 4.1%, respectively (49).
Further, it was reported that 96.68% of essential oil
isolated from citronella grass consists of 75 and 21% of
monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, respectively. It was
a complex mixture of 23 compounds. The percentage
of major constituents citronellal, geraniol and citronel­
lol was 26.23, 19.75 and 12.96 %, respectively, while the
other minor constituents such as α- cadinol, elemol, δ-
cadinene, β- elemene, citral, linalool, limonene and
geranyl acetate were present in 2.75, 5.07, 4.21, 2.8,
0.67, 0.71, 2.96 and 3.58% (7) while in the similar
study it was reported that C. nardus essential oil
included geraniol (55.77%), trans-citral (10.18%) and
cis- citral (8.34%) as major constituents whereas α-
copaene (6.61%), citronellol (4.33%), humulene
(1.63%), eugenol (2.51%), α-cubebene (1.23%), β-
caryophyllene (2.32%), α-pinene (1.14%), δ-cardinol
(0.58%), citronellal (0.63%), germacrene-D (0.20%)
and limonene oxide (0.47%) were the minor constitu­
ents (50).
Geographical sources were responsible for the che­
mical composition differences of C. nardus essential oil
(Table 5). In Morocco, the yield of C. nardus essential
oil obtained from its leaves was 1% and was colourless.
The essential oil obtained was then analyzed by GC/MS
and 13 chemical compounds were identified. The major
constituents obtained were citronellal (16.9%), followed
by citronellol (10.4%), elemol (9.1%), nerol (8%), citro­
nellyl acetate (7.6%), β -cubinene (7.2%), and geranyl
acetate (7%) in the essential oil obtained from Morocco
(51) while the essential oil obtained from C. nardus
collected from China was found to contain citronellal
(26.23%), citronellol (12.96%), Elemol (5.07%), geranyl
acetate (3.58%), geraniol (19.75%), δ- cadinene (4.21%),
Limonene (2.96%), β-elemene (2.8%) and α-cadinol
(2.75%) (7).
The chemical composition of hydro-distilled citro­
nella leaves essential oil obtained from Congo and Benin
region were compared and found that it contains 91 and
86% of monoterpenes, respectively. The citronellal and
geraniol were 41.3% and 23% respectively in essential oil

Table 5. Comparison of C. nardus essential oil content from different geographical sources.
Geographical Distribution
India Brazil Africa (Ivory coast)
Malaysia (2,54) China (7) (10,50) Morocco (51) (48,52,71) (49) Bangladesh (53)
Component Composition (%)
Citronellal 22.09 29.6 26.23 29.7 0.63 16.9 27.87 47.2 36.53 29.2 -
Citronellol 12.26 4.8 12.96 - 4.33 10.4 11.85 11.1 13.10 12.7 -
Geraniol 41.48 - 19.75 24.2 55.57 9.1 22.77 18.6 25.56 29.3 75.1
Neral 7.97 - - - 8.34 - - - - - 0.4
Eugenol 0.91 1.5 1.45 - 2.51 - - - - - -
Geranial 8.39 - - - 10.18 - 14.54 - - - 0.5
α-Copaene - - - - 6.61 - - - - - -
β-caryophyllene - 6.5 - 2.2 2.32 - - - - - 0.1
Humulene - - - - 1.63 - - - - - -
α-cubebene - - - - 1.23 - - - - - -
α-pinene - - - - 1.14 - - - - - -
δ- cardinol - - - - 0.58 - - - - - -
Limonene oxide - - - - 0.47 - - - - - -
Germacrene-D - - 0.99 - 0.2 - - - 0.69 - -
γ- terpeniol - - - 9.2 - - - - - - -
Cis-sabinene hydrate - - - 3.8 - - - - - - -
β-myrcene - - - 2.9 - - - - - - 0.1
Borneol - - - 2.5 - - - - - - -
Nerol - - - 1.5 - 8 11.21 - - - 0.2
β-pinene - - - 1.5 - - - - - - -
Nerolidol - - - 4.8 - - - - - - -
Germacren-4-ol - - - 1.5 - - - - - - -
Isoplugeol - - - - - - - - 1.4 - -
α-cadinol - - 2.75 - - - - - - - -
Elemol - - 5.07 - - - - - 8.24 5 0.2
δ-cadinene - - 4.21 - - - - - 1.09 - -
β-Elemene - - 2.80 - - - - - - - -
Citral - - 0.67 - - - - - - - -
linalool - - 0.71 - - - - - 1.1 - 1
Limonene - 2.7 2.96 - - - - - - 4.1 0.4
Geranyl acetate 4.73 - 3.58 - - 7 - - 1.51 - 7.6
Citronellyl acetate 1.37 - - - - 7.6 - - 2.22 - -
β-cubinene - - - - - 7.2 - - - - -
γ-cadinene - - - - - - - - - - -

of Benin while it was 37.5 and 29.4%, respectively, in
that of Congo. The oxygen-containing compounds were
also detected and the aldehydes comprised 40% in aver­
age. The sesquiterpenes such as β-elemene, trans-β-
caryophyllene and δ-cadinene were detected from
congo essential oil while α-farnesene and elemol from
Benin essential oil (12).
The citronella essential oil obtained from Ooty
(India) contained citronellal, geraniol and γ–terpineol
present 29.7, 24.2 and 9.2%, respectively (10) whereas
the specimen collected in Gerais (Brazil) contain citro­
nellal (47.2%), geraniol (18.6%) and citronellol (11.1%)
as the major constituents (52). Citronella essential oil
obtained from Bangladesh majorly consists of 9-%
monoterpene hydrocarbons. Sesquiterpene hydrocar­
bon includes p-Elemene, p-caryophyllene and α-
humulene. Alcohols were the major components of
citronella essential oil and constitute 75% of the total
oil, Geraniol (75.1%) and geranyl acetate (7.6%) were
the major components of citronella essential oil (53). In
the similar study, the essential oil obtained from
Malaysia consists of alcohol, aldehyde/ketone and
hydrocarbons present 29.6, 6.3 and 9.2% respec­
tively (54).
Through all the studies conducted to determine the
chemical composition, the chemical structures and the
molecular formulas of the major components of
C. nardus essential oil are given in Figure 1.
6. Biological activities
The biological properties exhibited by citronella essen­
tial oil are categorised into various types depending
upon the target organism as follows.
6.1. Insecticidal
Mosquito repellent activity is the prime activity of citro­
nella essential oil (10,55,56). Since thousands of years,
citronella and its oil is used as an insect repellent even
before the manufacture of synthetic insect repellents like
DEET. Citronella is largely used as a disinfectant in
treating snake bites and stings of venomous insects as
well as an air purifier which aids in warding off insects.
Moreover, mosquito repellent cream containing citro­
nella essential oil has been developed (57).
It was reported that at the concentrations of 12.5%
citronella oil was effective in killing tropical horse tick
larvae (Anocentor nitens) while at the concentration of
0.006% citronella is one of the active ingredients of the
pesticide product, Bug Assassin (58). This pesticide
product along with peppermint, eugenol, Sodium lauryl
sulfate provided 90% control of spotted spider mites
JOURNAL OF ESSENTIAL OIL RESEARCH 211
(Tetranychus urticae). Hence it showed good insectici­
dal activity (59). However, citronella essential oil was
not found effective against Homopteran pests and was
unable to repel three species of kissing bugs,i.e.
Triatoma protracta, T. recurva and T. Rubida (58).
Contact toxicity and repellency of essential oil of
C. nardus against red imported fire ant (Solenopus
invicta) and argentine ant (Linepithema humile) were
evaluated (60). It was found that 50% of argentine ants
were killed in 34.3 min by citronella oil and 100% after
twenty-four hours. On the other hand, 50.6% of red
imported fire ants were killed on 24 h exposure to
citronella oil and hence caused significant mortality.
The essential oil obtained from C. nardus essential oil
repelled both body (Pediculus humanus var. humanus)
and head lice (P. varcapitata) (61). Citronella essential
oil along with neem and coconut oil was effective in
preventing head lice transmission.
The mode of action of citronella against insects was
reported to be non-toxic to humans and plants (60). It
was reported that the terpenes in citronella essential oil
blocks the neural pathways of the insects and hence
disrupt movements and the metabolism of insects. It
was reported that by adding 5% vanillin to the 10–25%
citronella oil extracted from citronella doubled its pro­
tection against Anopheles mosquitoes (55). At 10% con­
centration and with 24-h exposure, citronella oil killed
100% of Anopheles dirusa and Culexquinque fasciatus
and 97% of Aedes aegypti. It was found that the micro­
encapsulated citronella oil-treated fabrics provide
greater and longer protection against A. aegypti than
that of the alcohol-treated citronella oil. The microen­
capsulated citronella oil-treated fabrics repelled mosqui­
toes for almost 21 days while alcohol-treated citronella
oil repelled mosquitoes for 5 days (62). Citronella essen­
tial oil has been cited in one-third of all patents as
biological insect repellent (63).
The insect repellent activity of citronella essential oil
was tested against Bemisia tabaci (Sweet potato whitefly)
at various concentrations, i.e., 0, 0.416, 1.66, 3.33 and
6.66 μL/L. Citronella essential oil showed high repel­
lency against B. tabaci and deterred females from laying
eggs on leaves treated with citronella essential oil. The
mortality of B. tabaci increases with increase in concen­
tration of citronella essential oil and the effective con­
centration was 6.66 μL/L (64). A similar study was
undertaken to demonstrate the insecticidal activity of
Citronella essential oil against Aedes aegypti. At 400 μL,
Citronella essential oil was effective in inhibiting
A. aegypti (65).
The insect repellent activity of nine potential plants
namely Finger root (Boesenbergia pandurata), Greater
galangale (Alpiniaga langa), Cardamom (Elettaria
212 H. KAUR ET AL.

Monoterpenes Sesquiterpenes

Camphene Limonene Myrcene β-Elemene trans β-caryophyllene δ-cadinene

(C10H16) (C10H16) (C10H16) (C15H24) (C15H24) (C15H24)

α-Farnesene (C15H24)
Hydrocarbons Hydrocarbons

CH2OH
CH2OH

H3CO OH

HO

Citronellol Geraniol Eugenol

HO
(C10H20O) (C10H18O) (C10H12O2)
OH HO

Elemol Nerolidol
CH2 CH2OH
(C15H26O) (C15H26O)

Alcohols
Linalool Nerol γ-terpineol
(C10H18O) (C10H18O) (C10H18O)
Alcohols

CHO
CHO

CHO

Citronellal cis-citral trans-citral Piperitone

(C10H18O) (C10H16O) (C10H16O) (C10H16O)

Aldehydes Ketones

Figure 1. Chemical structures of important constituents of C. nardus essential oil.

cardamomum), Turmeric (Curcuma longa), Siamese
cassia (Cassia siamea), Neem (Azadirachta indica),
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus citriodora), Citronella grass
(Cymbopogon nardus), and Siam weed (Eupatorium
odoratum) was checked and it was found that the
citronella grass was most effective against mosquito
with 2 h of repellency (66). The insect repellant activity
of citronella oil might be due to the presence of geraniol,
limonene, eugenol and citronellal (67). Citronella essen­
tial oil in the concentration range of 0.05–15% alone or

in combination with natural products shows good insect
repellent property against 24 mosquitoes of Aedes,
Anopheles, Armigeres, Culex and Monia genus (68).
Moreover, evaluation of the insect repellant activity of
citronella in combination with other binders such as
potato starch, neem powder, wood powder, cow dung,
corn starch and coconut shell powder revealed that the
best result was given by citronella leaf cake with neem
powder with burning time of 21 min and the residual
percentage is 24.1%. Moreover, this combination also
showed antibacterial and medicinal properties. Hence,
Neem powder cake impregnated with 10% citronella oil
was recommended as good insect repellent.
It can be interpreted from these reports that crude
citronella essential is was effective against various
insects (ticks, mosquitoes and mites) at concentration
of 0.05–15%. The effectiveness of the essential oil can be
increased with use of different binders.
Microencapsulation further increased the repellent
action due to the slow release of essential oil.
6.2. Antifungal activity
The antifungal activity of C. nardus essential oil was
investigated against Aspergillus niger and Penicillium
putida. The essential oil inhibited the growth of
A. niger at higher concentration (400 mg/L) (69)
whereas it showed inhibition at much lower concentra­
tion (4 mg/ml) against P. putida (70).
The antifungal potential of C. nardus essential oil was
investigated against P. grisea, Aspergillus species and
Colletotrichum musae. It was found that C. nardus
essential oil inhibited the growth of P. grisea,
Aspergillus species and C. musae through inhibition of
their spore production and this antifungal property was
concentration-dependent (71).
Citronella essential oil was evaluated for its antifun­
gal activity against Alternaria alternata (fungus that
spoils fruits and vegetables especially cherry tomato)
and found that the citronella essential oil at the dose of
1.5 μl/ml was very effective against A. alternata without
any negative effect on the quality of the fruit. The mini­
mum inhibitory concentration in PDA (Potato dextrose
agar) medium was found to be 1.5 μl/ml (72).
The antifungal activity of C. nardus essential oil was
investigated against cereals and pulses contaminating
fungi belonging to Penicillium and Mucor genera
(A. flavus, A. niger and A. fumigates) (73). At 50%
concentration of citronella essential oil, 90 mm inhibi­
tion zone was observed against all the test strains. With
decrease in concentration to 25 and 12.5%, the antifun­
gal activity was observed to be maximum against
JOURNAL OF ESSENTIAL OIL RESEARCH 213
A. niger (Inhibition zone 50 and 40 mm, respectively)
while it was minimum against P. italicum (Inhibition
zone 27 and 16 mm, respectively). Citronella essential
oil was comparatively more effective against A. niger.
Citronella essential oil inhibited the formation of
hyphae of Candida albicans and also inhibited the
growth of yeast at the concentration of 15.8–1000 g/
ml. This antifungal property of C. nardus essential oil
was attributed to the presence of terpenes (52).
Similarly; Zhu et al (2005) reported that the antifungal
potential of C. nardus essential oil might be due to the
presence of phenolic compounds, oxygenated monoter­
penes and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (74).
The emulsification of essential oil into nano emulsion
is a cost effective method to increase its effectiveness
(75). The essential oil which is volatile and sensitive to
degradation is best for nano emulsion formation using
cavitation assisted techniques (76,77). The nano emul­
sions of neem oil and citronella oil mixture possessed
better antifungal activity against phytopathogenic fungi
(Sclerotium rolfsii and Rhizoctonia solani). This obser­
vation made a step towards the utilization of citronella
oil in combination with the neem oil for control of
diseases caused by S. rolfsii and R. solani (77).
A study was undertaken for evaluation of the citro­
nella oil in treatment of major coffee diseases, (Rust and
brown eye spot). Twelve months old coffee plant was
sprayed with 1000 μl/L citronella oil, 200 mg/L aciben­
zolar-S-methyl and 200 mg/L tebuconazole fungicide
separately. Seven days later, the plants were inoculated
with Cercospora coffeicola and Hemileia vastatrix and
application was repeated after every 30 days for 5
months. With the efficiencies of 47.2 and 29.7%, respec­
tively, citronella oil controlled the rust and brown eye
spot while tebuconazole fungicide-controlled rust and
brown eye spot with the efficiencies of 96.5 and 90.5%,
respectively. Acibenzolar-S-methyl showed no control
of rust but with efficiencies of 55.9% reduced brown eye
spot. Hence, it was found that the citronella oil not only
controls the rust and brown eye spot in coffee plant but
also activates their defense system (78).
A study was undertaken for demonstration of anti­
fungal potential of citronella essential oil against
Collectotrichum acutatum (causing chilli anthracnose)
at various concentrations, i.e., 0.25, 1.25 and 2.5 μl/ml
using poisoned food technique. It was found that citro­
nella essential oil inhibited the mycelial growth at all the
three concentrations. At concentration 1.25 μl/ml, it
inhibited germ tube elongation and reduced conidial
germination. Although the complete mycelial growth
inhibition was observed at 2.5 μl/ml but it was toxic to
the fruit at this concentration. Hence, 1.25 μl/ml was the
214 H. KAUR ET AL.
selected as most effective concentration of citronella
essential oil in controlling C. acutatum (79).
The antifungal potential of C. nardus essential oil was
attributed to cell wall changes, interference in wall
synthesizing enzymatic reactions which affect morpho­
genesis and growth of fungus. It caused intracellular
constituent leakage, increased ion permeability or
impairment of fungal enzymatic systems. The antifungal
potential of citronella essential oil was due to its inter­
ference in integrity of cell membrane functioning
through the changes in membrane potential, respiratory
chain inhibition and loss of cytoplasmic material (52).
Thus, C. nardus essential oil can be used for develop­
ment of natural and safer fungicide.
The constituents of C. nardus essential oil (citronellal
and linalool) were also tested for their antifungal poten­
tial against fungal strains- A. candidus, A. versicolor,
A. flavus, Eurotium amstelodami, Penicillium adametzii,
E. chevalieri, P. griseofulvum, P. citrinum,
P. griseofulvum, and P. islandicum and it was found
that the citronellal and linalool obtained from
C. nardus essential oil were responsible for activity
against all these fungal strains (16). It was reported
that the synergism between the citronellal and linalool
(components of C. nardus essential oil) was responsible
for its fungicidal activity (16).
Coming to conclusion of all these studies reported on
the antifungal potential of citronella essential oil, it has
been found that citronella essential oil was effective
against fungi belonging to variety of genus. The essential
oil inhibited the fungal growth at very low concentra­
tion range. Further, nano emulsion formation can
increase its effectiveness as antifungal agent. The anti­
fungal activity was primarily due to presence of mono­
terpenoids such as citronellal. In order to prevent or
alleviate fungal infections, C. nardus essential oil can be
an important ‘natural’ and safer fungicide.
6.3. Antibacterial activity
A few studies conducted on the bactericidal action of
C. nardus essential oil can be efficiently used as anti­
bacterial agents against human pathogens such as
Acinetobacter baumanii, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus
faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumo­
niae, Serratia marcescens, Salmonella typhimurium,
Table 6. Allelopathic activity of leaf, root and shoot methanol extract of C. nardus (83).
Concentration
Plant part (g/mL) Lettuce Alfalfa
Leaf extract 0.03 100 23.61
Root extract 0.03 4.21 23.91
Stalk Extract 0.1 100 22.38
and Staphylococcus aureus at concentration range of
1200–20,000 μg/ml. The higher MIC value indicated
that it was more susceptible to human pathogens. Both
Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial species were
inhibited by citronella essential oil (80). The strong
antibacterial activity of oil was due to the presence of
the components elemol (9.1%), citronellol (10.4%),
citronellal (16.9%) and nerol (8%) (81).
6.4. Herbicidal activity
Germination of seeds of six weed species such as billy
goat weed (Ageratum conyzoides), parthenium ragweed
(Parthenium hysterophorus), common lambsquarters
(Chenopodium album), coffee weed (Cassia occidenta­
lis), prickly malvastrum (Malvastrum coromandelia­
num) and little seed canary grass (Phalaris minor)
were assayed against citronella essential oil. Citronellal
(major compound of citronella essential oil) was applied
to seeds at concentrations of 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 μg
citronellal/g of sand, in which they were planted. It was
found that at the concentration of 100 μg/g, neither of
the seeds of weed species emerged. The most susceptible
species of weed was A. conyzoides and P. hysterophorus
and did not emerge even at 50 μg/g seed treatment. The
mode of action essential oil might be necrosis followed
by the death of plant tissue (82).
Aqueous methanol extracts of C. nardus leaves, roots
and stalks inhibited the growth of certain common
weeds of agricultural fields such as cress (Lepidum sati­
vum L.), Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), lettuce (Lactuca
sativa L.), Italian ryegrass (Lolium moltiflorum Lam.),
barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli L.) and jungle
rice (Echinochloa colonum L.). Strong growth inhibition
was shown particularly by leaf and root extracts. It had
been demonstrated that this growth inhibitory activity
was due to presence of allelopathic substances in
C. nardus (83). The allelopathic activity of leaf, root
and shoot methanol extracts of C. nardus is given in
Table 6.
A study was undertaken to demonstrate the herbici­
dal activity of citronella essential oil against Crebgrass
(Digitaria horizontalis) and Burrgrass (Cenchrus echina­
tus). The phytotoxic effects of citronella essential oil
were demonstrated at various concentrations, i.e., 1, 10
and 20%. A drastic reduction in the seed germination
Percentage inhibition of shoot growth
Cress Jungle rice Barnyard grass Italian ryegrass
28.74 51.28 39.30 29.39
25.29 28.49 30.39 31.91
26.92 33.95 36.02 20.76
 JOURNAL OF ESSENTIAL OIL RESEARCH 215

was reported (97–99%). Citronella essential oil showed
a negative effect on the plant height and dry mass of
shoots and roots after 12 h of treatment. At the concen­
tration of 20%, it showed a reduction in the dry mass of
shoots. Finally, reduction in the chlorophyll and protein
content by 80–90% was demonstrated on application of
Citronella essential oil (84).
The mode of action of C. nardus essential oil was
reported that the photosynthetic and respiratory meta­
bolism was impaired by the citronellal component of the
C. nardus grass which disrupts the cuticular wax, shrink
epidermal cells, clog stomata and causes rapid leakage of
electrolyte. Along with this citronella essential oil also
causes necrosis, chlorosis, wilting followed by death of
weeds (85). Hence, Citronella essential oil has the
potential to be used as a natural herbicide.
6.5. Antioxidant property
Citronella oil was found to have moderate antioxidant
property with IC50 value of 206 μg/ml (86). The absence
of phenolic compounds might be responsible for its low
antioxidant property (87). The antioxidant potential
varies with the methods of extraction of the C. nardus
essential oil. The essential oil obtained by ohmic-heated
hydrodistillation contained high concentration of anti­
oxidant compounds such as citronellal and limonene. It
was found that the pure citronellal possessed good anti­
oxidant property with IC50 value of 49 μg/ml (88). The
antioxidant property of essential oil was temperature-
dependent and was largely affected by subjecting the
plant material to high temperature which deteriorates
the extract (89).
Hence, Citronella grass possesses various biological
properties. All of these properties are compiled and
given in Table 7.
7. Safety and toxicity
It was reported that citronella oil has been used exten­
sively since ancient times and considered safe without
any side effects (5). The estimated acute toxicity of
citronella essential oil was >5000 mg/kg (90). The sub-
chronic toxicity of citronella essential oil has been
waived by EPA (91). Few skin dermatitis and eczema
have been reported by the use of citronella oil in few
sensitive species (92). Citronella oil is included in the list
of non-carcinogenic compounds (93). However, it was
said that at high doses citronella can be toxic to bene­
ficial insects such as pollinators but it is not con­
firmed yet.
8. Conclusion and future perspectives
In this article, we reviewed studies of citronella essential
oil, its traditional importance, chemical composition
and some biological activities reported so far. We have
provided a detailed botanical description to distinguish
two varieties of citronella grass. Since ancient times,
Citronella is used in Ayurvedic medicine for treatment

Table 7. Biological properties of citronella grass essential oil.

Positive/
Biological Property Target organism negative Concentration
Insecticidal (55,60,64–66) Anopheles dirus, Culex quinquefasciatus, Aedes aegypti Positive 10%
Solenopsis invicta, Linepithema humile Positive
Bemisia tabaci Positive 6.66 μL/L
Aedes aegypti Positive 400 μL
Aedes, Anopheles, Armigeres, Culex, Monsonia Positive 0.05–15%
A. candidus, A. versicolor, A. flavus, Eurotiumams telodami, Penicillium adametzii, Positive
E. chevalieri, P. griseofulvum, P. citrinum, P. griseofulvum, P. islandicum.
Candida albicans Positive 15.8–1000 g/
ml
Antifungal (16,47,69,70,72,73,75,78,79) Aspergillus niger Positive 400 mg/L
P. putida Positive 4 mg/ml
A. alternate Positive 1.5 μl/ml
A. flavus, A. niger, A. fumigates Positive 50%
S. rolfsii, R. solani Positive
Cercospora coffeicola, Hemileta vastatrix Positive 1000 μl/L
Collectotrichum acutatum Positive 1.25 μl/mL
Antibacterial (80) Acinetobacter baumanii, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas Positive 1200–20,000
aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratiam arcescens, Salmonella μg/ml
typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus
Acaricidal (58,59) Tetranychus urticae Positive 0.006%
Triatoma protracta, T. recurva, T. rubida Negative
Anocentor nitens Positive 12.5%
Herbicidal (26,83,84) Ageratum conyzoides, Parthenium hysterophorus, Chenopodium album, Cassia Positive 100 μg/g
occidentalis, Malvastrum coromandelianum, Phalaris minor
Lepidum sativum L. Positive 0.03 g/ml
Crebgrass (Digitaria horizontalis), Burrgrass (Cenchrus echinatus) Positive 20%
216 H. KAUR ET AL.
of redness, irritation, toothaches, rheumatism, digestive
problems, headaches, infectious diseases, fatigue and
childbirth washes. Recently, it found its use in the
paper industry for paper production due to its high
cellulose content. It is majorly exploited for its essential
oil content. The yield and the chemical composition of
C. nardus essential oil also varied with the methods of
extraction. Geographical distribution results in variable
chemical composition of essential oil. Researches car­
ried out till date on C. nardus essential oil lead to the
identification of 100 compounds. The majority of sam­
ples contained citronellal, citronellol and geraniol as
major components.
Variable composition accounts for the promising
insecticidal, fungicidal, herbicidal and antioxidant activ­
ities shown by essential oil. It is a cheap, environmental
friendly and effective substitute for synthetic chemicals.
Apart from its biological potential, it can be used as
a bioadditive (94) and its waste can be used to produce
biogas, especially methane (95). It could be used as an
alternative for future mouthwash’s formulations (96). In
recent times, the preference of the consumers for nat­
ural ingredient containing products have ushered in
a ‘green wave’ and this results in the increased demand
for natural essential oil. Some major constraints in sus­
tainable industrial exploitation of medicinal and aro­
matic plants (MAPs) such as citronella are due to
geographical variations and non-standardized proce­
dure of extraction of essential oil. Efforts should be to
get quality and quantity as consistent as possible. In
recent times, techniques like nano emulsion and micro­
encapsulation have been used to eliminate the problems
(liphophilic nature, high dose and less activity than
isolated compounds) related to the use of essential oils.
Hence, there is a need of awareness of the benefits of
citronella essential oil in pharmacological and agricul­
tural fields.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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