Lemongrass oil

Lemon grass or otherwise lemongrass comes from India and is a member of the Myrtle or Cereal family. It is worth noting that this plant is also quite widely cultivated in other tropical areas, for example, in Brazil, Sri Lanka and Central Africa.

In height, lemon grass (lemongrass) reaches about a meter, while it is customary to collect two or even more harvests of this crop annually. After collection, the plant raw materials are ground to facilitate the recovery of the essential oil, which is carried out using the steam distillation method.

The main element of parts of this plant is citral, the amount of which can vary within 70-85 percent of the total volume. At the same time, the remaining 15-30 percent in the composition of lemongrass oil can change depending on the freshness of the leaves that are used in the distillation process.

In addition, the type of lemon grass used also plays an important role, however, all varieties of lemongrass (respectively, essential oil) include geraniol, nerol, farnesol, myrcene with many aldehydes, citronellol and other elements in insignificant amounts. The color of lemongrass oil can vary from yellow to reddish brown, but the saturated lemon aroma remains unchanged.

Lemon grass and its essential oil have a fairly long history of use in traditional medicine in India, especially in the treatment of infectious diseases and fever. Such properties of lemongrass oil as tonic, stimulating, powerful antiseptic and bactericidal are known. At the same time, all these actions were officially confirmed as a result of numerous laboratory studies.

So, it was found that lemongrass oil can calm headaches. However, unlike lavender oil, which has a similar effect, the first one must be used after dissolution in the base oil, and then gently massage the forehead and whiskey. This is due to the property of lemongrass oil to act on the skin in an undissolved form.

In cooking, lemongrass oil can also be used in the preparation of some dishes, especially those that need to be given a characteristic citrus flavor. These can be either sweet dishes or dishes based on meat, poultry or fish. However, it should be remembered that the use of natural lemongrass essential oil is limited in nature, that is, it must be added in minimal quantities - literally one or two drops per total meal volume.

Interestingly, this essential oil can sometimes even be used to fake more expensive types of oil, and it is conceived under the name Verbena - a plant that also differs in the smell of lemon. That is why it is important to know not only the properties, but also the Latin names of the plants on the basis of which the essential oils you acquire are made.