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Effect of Prolonged Storage on the Quality of Lemongrass [Cymbopogon

flexuosus Nees ex Steud.) Wats.] Essential Oil.

Article in Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants · January 1998

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 1o4 )EaP 1e-3)1s
of Lemongrass
ofProlonged Storage on the Quality
"'tiviorpuio,
Effect
""
Jt?x osus tNeeser steud')wats')
EssentialOil

B'R Rdieswaru R6o*

A.K. Bhanacharyd, PN' Ka l afld

Aromatic Plants'
Central Institute of Medicinal and
- 500039'lndia
ii.U,* urd"Onal, Uppal (P'O') Hvderabad
",",U
(in
distiiled and one yeat sbred
Abstract :'The qualirr- of tieshly in
kept un{lcr a$bien! condiiions
,r.rnt"ln'."n*..,t *ith a head space
wirs compa'ed The
*.li - ,-niioopior .ri'o*") esscntial oils of lemongrass
nrrd'( lbc rJ hl) drstilled uil
O.o,,"-a"U un pr'lon!''d
"ri "r,,',, rr :rq I P<rJn'dr '<1 I rr ' 6nd
or nerar '
:;";;:;r:;:; ;"".."'a'|ron'
t0 ,'' ll'i lord"rlr(curd<Jlreat\rcnnren!oru
cay,otr ttcn- '.idc'I
r ;' lim ncr'ctI lnl'' YreQrncne'l'l(';)'
,-.inrrn.a'-*-,--.'1'7 (1 15!a)'
ffi"iilliir'l' .'t*'ia-t (4 716[) isopulceol (1 43or')' bomeol
j,. II hRi' Il'5l''' and
Ptran'l dccule 0_jJJ\oph)ll(nc
""*".,,,a.
'.,r, lhcneral anJPcrdn'dl perlenlzPcsJetledseJ
'oi'irii^^^a,
"*.tr',",.r,0"-d'
uui the smted oil in conp'rison to
ticshlv disulled
oil should be avoided and
r"nr"U'nstorage of lamongtass
"iio"*"rc.
rhe oil be markeled as quickiy
as possible'

CymbLrpogon t'lexuosus'
KeJ word lndex I l-emongrass
pou""r"l-S,u,ng" of ojl Chemical composition
of oil Neral'
Ceranial-

(C)_'r'opo8o' lertro'tlls (Nees

lntroaluctron :_ LtlllongriNs
Family i Poaceae) is an
Sr*o iai",. var' rd:r&orrrr Hack ' plant native to
"t
irn,iorrant'nrrrtir"'*'t arorralic_cufir_nedicinal
';;;;';'':;;";;"t, crimate oi
curlilaieLr in the humid tropicar
growins it
t1'tc t'c'asibilirv r'f
I;;;;;"- i;;""t studies iodicued clina{' of Andhra
:;-,;;;;"; crop in ttre scmi - add rropical is widelv used in
;;;;':.;. rh" essential oit ol lemongrass
x Aulilor ibi Cofesspoldenoe
 106 JEOPr(23)18
by gas chromab8raphy.
'105 JEOPl{23)1S6
GC analysis were perlbrmcd on Pcrkin tslmer (Model 8500)
Ilavoudng, psrfumery cosmetic and pharrnaccuticxl jndustries- 'fhe
8&s chromatograph equippsd with lla c lonisation dotcctor (IrID),
leaves arc used in herhal leas. The oil is also used lbr the extrdclion
an electronic inlegrulor and a bonded phase fused silica gle.is
of aroma chemical citral fiom which o-ionone, 13 ioflone and capillary column (25m x 0.5mm i.d.) IIP I roaled wilh dimcthyl
_lhc
vitamin A are synthesizcd. citral contenl in lcmonglass oil
sibxanc. NitroSen a( 4oml/Dinutc flow rate and l0 p.s.i. inlet
onges ftom'l5lo - 90%. Cilral is monoterpere aldehyde and
^ prossure was uscd as lhe oitrrior gas. Column oven lemperiturc
bein8 a highly unsalurated compound. lhe lemongrass oil
wirs programmcd aorn 60UC-2200C at 51rC/ minute ranlp rate with
containing it is prone to oxidation during storage resulting in
a final holtl limo of l0 minules. lnioctl)r and dctector were
deterioralion oi oil qualityr. On storage of oil, the content of citral
mailtained al 2500C and -](X)l,C. rcspcdivcly. The oil sampte (0.1
gradually decreased accompu ed by an increase in the specific
- 0. 2 pL) was injected with I : Ito spl i1 ratio. Essenti,al oit constitueots
gravity of fte oil?. After onc yedr of slo6ge (in ambor coloured
were identified by comparinB retenlion tir os of the peaks with
bottles), the ciral corcentration dcqeased tiom 8Oq, b 12% in
those ol relerences compounds run undcr identical coatditions,
Keralar and in anothd study atcl two yeius of storagc it docreased
relention indirl's wilh lilerarure Llara itnd |(.rk cnrichirent on co-
fiom 78% to 60%. However, no detailcd investigaliofl was made
injection of standard chcmicals. Peak ereirs and retcntio{ times
or the chemical changes in major and miflor compounds following
werc measured by elcctronic intcgralor. The relative axoounts
prolonged stomge lemongrass oil. In the prcscnt study, we have
(arca%) of individual components wero computed from peak areas
comparcd tht) chemical profiles of freshly distilled and one year
withoul FID rcstrnose tactor coffcction-
old lemongrass oils to highlight the qualitativc chaflges that occur
On storirg the oil for a long period.
Results and Discussion :- 25 ldentfied comp(unds oul of
' 54 peaks in the gas chrcinalograph constituting 9l-"ll%-92-61
Materials atrd Methods :- Lemongmss cv, OD 19 was grown
of the oil are tabulatcd in Table 1. The lioshty distilled oil contained
ir the Expedme al Farm oi Central lrNtitute of Medicinal and higher percentages of (Z)'citral (neral), (E) cirral (geranial) and
Arcoatic Plants,. Field Statioa, Hyderabad fouowiflg staoda.d
caryophyllene oxide. The total citral ((neral+geranial) conteflt of
agriculturaf practices. The experimedal localion experiences selhi
the heshly distillcd oil wal 86.32%- Thc srored oil recorded grcare.
- add tropical climate. Fully grown plants were ha ested aod
contents of 6-methyl hept-s-en-2-one, limonene, y-terpi[ene,
distiled in a field distillation unit ope.aling on hydro - clm - steao
linalool, citronellal, Isopulegol, bomeol, geradol, ge.anyl acetate,
distillation principte. The extracted oil was filtered, d ed ovet
0-caryophyllene and other minor romponenets. but lesser
aohydrous sodium sulphatc and a sample drawn from il was
percentagcs of (Z)-citral, (E)-cirral and caryophyllene oxide. The
designated as freshly distilled oil. Another sample drawn from
total citr.l percentaSe of the storcd oil was 64.05%. On prolonged
similarly distiled oil (of cv. OD 19) but stored fo. oIIe year in
storage of oil, the citral concentration, thus deceased from 86.32%
CIMAP storcs under ambienl conditions in an aluminium contaircr
to 64.05% under semi-arid tropical climatic conditions. Io the stored
with a head sp:rce, was designated as stored oil. The head spilcr
oil, the neral content decreased by 22.82%, while the geradal
was maidaitred to represent larmer's paactice of stori[g the oil.
content decaeased by 27.66%. These resul$ support the cartier
The chemicirt composition of these two oil samples was amlysed
 107 J.E.OP 1(23)1998
108 J.E.O.P I (24) 19@
rcports of detedoration in lemongrass oil quality during storagel'
6 Rejcswara Rao,8.R., Sukhmal Chand, Bhattach'arya' A.K.'
Kaut, PN- Singh, C.P and Sirgh, K. 1998. Responso of
This study has tevealed thal on prolongod sloragc. lhe quality lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) cultivars to spacings
of lemongrass oil deterioruted. therefbrc, the oil should te marketed nnd NPK lbrtilizers under irigated and rainfed condtions in
as quickly as Possible. I
semi - arid tropics. Med Ann. Pl . Sci.,20 (2) : 1O'l - 412.

AckniJwlcdgemenl| : Th! aulhors cxPess lhcil lralirude lL'
1.
Dr. Sushil Kumir, Dir'3ctor of CIMAP, Lucknow, D. K. Singh'
Scientist-in-Chirge, CIMAP lricld Station. Hydcrabad fo. facilitics
and Dr. M. Gopnt Rao, Scientist in-Chargc, CIMAP Field Stalion.
Bangalore tbr GC analyses.
Sukhmal Chand and Rajeswara Rao, B.R. 1996. Response
of lemongrass (.Cymbopogon flexuosas (Nees ex Steud.)
Wats, var. flexuasur Httck) to levels atrd methods of
application of phosphorus anal potassium. J. Potaisiufi Res.,
12 (4) i 400 - 405

References:
1. Bhattacharya, A:K., KauI, PN., Rajeswara Rao, B.R,
Mallavarapu, G.R. snd Ramesh, S. 1997. I cr_specific and
iflter-cultivar variations in the essontial oil plofilos of
lemongrass,.l ,rreal Oil Res., 9 (3) 361 364-

2. GuentlDt E. 1972.'lhe Essential Oils, Vol.'1. Reprint, Robert

E. Iftelger Pub. Co., Hutbington, New York. pp. 20-65.

3. Kuriar,,\., Nair, E.VG. and Raj'an, K.C. 1984- Effect of

antioxidants on the preservation of oitral contenl o[
lemonSrass oil. lndian Pertum., 28(1) : 2lt i?

4. Rajeswa$ Rao. B.R. arxl Suklrmal Chand 1996. Response

of lemongrass to zinc lpplicatiotr. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci.,
44 (2) , 344-346

5. Rejeswara Rao, B-R. anrt Sukhmal Chand 1996- Relative

efficiency of prilcd urea, ncemcakc, - coated urea tnd necm
oil-coated uiea as sources of nitfogen to lemonglass
(C)r,tbopoSott Jlexuosur var.lerxorl.d). Inditt J. aqlic Sci''
66 (12) . 725-1n.
 r E'O P' 1 (23) 1S
109
of fr€shlY dlsdlted and stored
Thble 1. Ch€rdcrl Prolttes
esseDdal olls of lemongrass'
Retentiotr Peak Area Percedtage
Compounds
lndex

6-Methyl hept-s-er 3.19

966 0.50
2-ooe 0.86
984 0.15
Myrcene 0.49
998 0.06
o-Phellandietre' 0.57
1014 0.18
p-CYsrene |.26
ro25 0.29
Lioonefle 0:31
1030 0.03
@) - boriE,ese 0.12
1041 0.07
G)- F OciEerc 0.10 1.19
r053
1-TerPircrle 0.05 0.16
Terpioolerc 1081
0.45 r.41
1087
Lioalool 0.71
1126 0.15
CamPhor 4.11
r 134 0.11
Cittooellal
1144 0.25 l 43
tsopulegol 1.15
1155" 0.12
Bomeol 0.48
1164 0.5l
Te!Phen-4-ol 0.3l
tl15 0.10
a-Telpiieol 0.52
1212 0.06
C ronellol 25.61
(Z)-Citral (Neral) l2l'l 33.21
0.51 3.49
Geratriol 38.42
53.1 1
(E)-Citral (Gq"nial) 1.68
0.22
Geraoyl ac€tate r -51
0.68
P-CarYophYltene 0.30
I-Cadinene 1.30
CaYophytlese

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