Abstract

PROJECT REPORT ON EXTRACTION AND PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS OF LEMONGRASS

*Harshal Patil, Dhanashree Patil and Jyoti Sonawane

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Abstract

Lemon grass is an aromatic medicinal grass belonging to the genus Cymbopogon. It is prevalent in the semi-temperate and tropical regions of Asian, American and African continents. The prefix lemon owes to its typical lemon like odour, due to presence of citral a cyclic monoterpene. A strong lemon fragrance, a predominant feature of this grass, is due to the high citral content in its oil. The redolence of the oil enables its use in soaps, detergents and perfumes. It also finds an application in the pharmaceutical industry. Apart from nutrients such as fats, proteins, fiber and minerals, it also contains various bioactive compounds which may be grouped into alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, phenols, saponins and tannins. Anti-oxidant, antiinflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-obesity, antinociceptive, anxiolytic and antihypertensive evidences of lemongrass tea were clearly elucidated to support initial pharmacological claims Lemongrass is considered a quintessential food and feed additive at the industrial level, since there are no issues with residue or toxins. Lemongrass powder and essential oils are used to modulate the gut ecosystem by generating anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant responses, increasing the optimum nutrient absorption in the gut system. The health restorative capacity of lemon grass may be ascribed to the diverse secondary metabolites it produces. This review attempts to give an overall description of lemon grass, highlighting its medicinal properties which make it a potent herb for pharmacognostic applications.

Keywords: Lemon grass, Extraction, Identification, Properties and Isolation.