Evaluation of essential oil yield and chemical composition of eight lemongrass (Cymbopogon spp.) cultivars under Himalayan region

Abstract

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon spp.) yields a commercial essential oil, which is a natural source of citral. In the present study, essential oil productivity and chemical compositions of the eight lemongrass cultivars from the Himalayan region were evaluated. The herb yield, essential oil content and essential oil yield varied from 168 to 208 kg per 100 m2, from 0.50% to 1.13% (v/w) and from 1.01 to 2.35 L per 100 m2, respectively in different cultivars. Altogether, twenty-eight constituents, comprising 86.6–98.5% of the total oil compositions, were identified using gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (GC–FID) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Comparative results showed substantial variations in the essential oil compositions due to cultivars and season of harvest. The amount of citral varied from 70.8% to 91.6% in different cultivars during the summer, rainy and winter seasons. According to the citral content, lemongrass cultivars could be arranged as Nima (88.8–91.6%) > Pragati (84.1–91.2%) > Cauvery (83.9–87.3%) > Krishna (70.8–86.8%) > OD–19 (82.0–86.0%) > Chirharit (78.6–82.8%) > Praman (75.2–82.5%) > CKP-25 (77.6–79.4%). In conclusion, cultivar Krishna was found to be superior over other cultivars in term of essential oil yield (2.35 L per 100 m−2). The average citral content in this cultivar was ≈80.0%.