Cymbopogon citratus
| Lemon grass | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Genus: | Cymbopogon |
| Species: | C. citratus |
| Binomial name | |
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Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, 1906 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Cymbopogon citratus, commonly known as lemon grass or oil grass, is a tropical plant from South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Cymbopogon citratus is often sold in stem form. While it can be grown in warmer temperate regions, such as the UK, it is not hardy to frost.
Cymbopogon citratus is abundant in the Philippines and Indonesia where it is known as tanglad or sereh. Its fragrant leaves are traditionally used in cooking, particularly for lechon and roasted chicken.
The dried leaves can also be brewed into a tea, either alone or as a flavoring in other teas, imparting a flavor reminiscent of lemon juice but with a mild sweetness without significant sourness or tartness.
The leaves of Cymbopogon citratus have been used in traditional medicine and are often found in herbal supplements and teas. Many effects have been attributed to both their oral consumption and topical use, with modern research supporting many of their alleged benefits.
In the folk medicine of Brazil, it is believed to have anxiolytic, hypnotic, and anticonvulsant properties.
In traditional medicine of India the leaves of the plant are used as stimulant, sudorific, antiperiodic, and anticatarrhal, while the essential oil is used as carminative, depressant, analgesic, antipyretic, antibacterial, and antifungal agent.
Laboratory studies have shown cytoprotective, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties in vitro, as well as antifungal properties | doi=10.1016/j.fct.2010.07.027}} (though Cymbopogon martinii was found to be more effective in that study).
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Wikipedia