Effect of drying methods and soaking of Ascorbic acid on the chemical content and specific qualities of oil in lemongrass leaves Cymbopogon citratus L.

Abstract

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) is an herb that belongs to the genus Cymbopogon of aromatic grasses and contains volatile oil with a fine lemon flavor. There needs to be more information on how drying affects the chemical content and specific qualities promoting the properties of the leaves. Hence, this study sought to investigate the effect of different drying methods and soaking with ascorbic acid on the chemical content and specific qualities of oil in the leaves of the lemongrass plant. An experiment was applied according to the CRD design. The experiment included two factors. The first factor was soaking with ascorbic acid at a (0.5) g / L concentration for 15 minutes. In addition to a non-soaking treatment and the second factor, the drying methods (solar drying, shadow drying, electric oven drying at a temperature of 40 °C for 8 hours) and the comparison by soft weight. The following characteristics were measured (percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, volatile oil, oil density and oil refractive index), and the results were statistically analyzed using the SAS statistical analysis program. The mean of the coefficients was compared according to the Duncan polynomial test. The results showed significantly superior drying in the oven over other treatments, as well as superior soaking of ascorbic over non-soaking treatment and gave the interference (drying in the oven + soaking with ascorbic) the highest averages of the studied traits amounted to (2.3806)% for nitrogen and (2.691)% for potassium and (1.092)% for volatile oil and (0.879) mg/microliter of volatile oil density. The differences between these drying methods selection were significant variations in the oil content of lemongrass leaves and election in obtaining high-quality products. Essential oil compositions have also been observed to depend on the drying conditions. However, the order of preference of the drying methods that ensure adequate retention of chemical content and volatile oil of the leaves, as observed in this study, is oven drying > shadow drying > sun drying >, in the order of decreasing magnitude. Keywords: lemongrass, drying methods, ascorbic, chemical composition.