Lemon Grass

:: Latin Name :

Folium cymbopogon

:: Sensoric quality :

Fresh and lemon-like, with a hint of rose fragrance

:: Main constituents :

The essential oil of lemon grass (0.2 to 0.5%, “West Indian lemon grass oil”) consists mainly of citral. Citral is a mixture of two stereoisomeric monterpene aldehydes; in lemon grass oil, the trans isomer geranial (40 to 62%) dominates over the cis isomer neral (25 to 38%). Further terpenoids in lemon grass oil are nerol, limonene, linalool and ß-caryphyllene. The content of myrcene is low, but still enough to make the oil susceptible to oxidative polymerization.

:: Uses:

Lemon grass features in Indonesian, Malaysian, Sri Lankan and Indian cooking and is widely used in savoury dishes and meat, poultry, seafood and vegetable curries. It harmonizes well with coconut milk, especially with chicken or seafood, and there are countless Thai and Sri Lankan recipes exploiting this combination. The stems are also used in teas or used in pickles and in flavouring marinades. The dried form is less pungent than fresh and should be used freely.

:: Availability : Various cuts.

:: Medicinal Uses : ANTIFLATULANT , Calming Tea