Lemongrass
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Lemongrass ( Cymbopogon citratus ) |
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| Cymbopogon citratus | ||||||||||||
| ( DC. ) Stapf |
The lemongrass ( Cymbopogon citratus ), also more precisely called West Indian lemongrass , West Indian lemongrass , Guatemalan lemongrass or Sereh , is a plant species within the sweet grass family (Poaceae). This species and some other Cymbopogon species are grown and used as a herb and medicinal plant .
description
Appearance and leaf
The West Indian lemongrass grows as an evergreen, perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 1 to 2 meters. It forms dense clumps through short rhizomes . The sturdy stalks have a diameter of about 4 millimeters and are floured below the nodes.
Your leaves develop an aromatic scent. The leaves are divided into leaf sheath and leaf blade. The leaf sheath is glabrous and greenish inside. The simple, coarse, bluish-green leaf blade is 30 to 90 centimeters long and 0.5 to 2 centimeters wide, narrows towards the leaf sheath, gradually narrows towards the base and has a long, pointed upper end. The ligules are about 1 millimeter long.
Inflorescence and flower
The relatively large, compound, loose, paniculate entire inflorescence is 30 to 60 centimeters long and pendulous. The branches are thin. The reddish or yellowish-brown bracts are 1.5 to 2 centimeters long. The pairs of racemose partial inflorescences are 1 to 2.5 centimeters long. Both the internodes of the inflorescence axis ( rachis ) and the stalks of the partial inflorescences are loosely hairy 2 to 3 mm long. The almost stem-shaped rachis is fragile at the branches. The sessile spikelets are 5 to 6 centimeters long and about 0.7 millimeters wide in outline or lanceolate and flattened at the top. The spikelets standing in pairs are 4 to 5 millimeters long. One of the pair of spikelets is fertile and sessile and the other is sterile and pedicled. The fertile spikelets contain a sterile floret at their base, followed by a fertile floret, but there is no rachis extension.
The flowers have the typical structure of the Poaceae flowers. The lower glume is lanceolate, flat or slightly concave towards the base, with two sharp, non-angular keels, between which no nerves can be seen. The upper glume is lanceolate, narrow and simple, without awn or somewhat bilobed with a spine tip about 0.2 millimeters long. The lemma is lanceolate and translucent with a smooth or serrated upper end. The palea is tiny or absent. There are only three stamens . The stylus are free.
Phenology
In China, the flowering time and the ripening of the fruits are in summer.
Chromosome set
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 40.
ingredients
The following ingredients were detected: 1,8-cineole, acetone , alcohols 10,000 to 15,000 ppm, alkaloids 3000 ppm, alpha-beta-dihydropseudoionone, alpha-camphorone, alpha- pinene , alpha- terpineol , aluminum 515 ppm, ash 43,000 ppm, beta -Dihydropseudoionone, beta-sitosterol, calcium 3680 ppm, capric acid , caprylic acid , caryophyllene, cerryl alcohol, chromium 37 ppm, citral 1080 to 25500 ppm, citronellal , citrollenic acid, citronellol , citronellyl acetate, cobalt 48 ppm, cymgopogon, cymbopogonol for example as leaf wax, decanal, diacetyl, dipentene, ethylene oxide 2000 to 30000 ppm, farnesal, farnesol, fat 71000 ppm, fucosterol, furfural, geranic acid, geraniol, geranyl acetate, HCN, hexasanol, iron 543 ppm, ispulegol, isovaleraldehyde , Isovaleric acid , L- linalool , limonene , linalool, linalyl acetate, luteolin, luteolin-C- glycoside , magnesium 3310 ppm, manganese 104 ppm, methyl heptonol, methyl heptone 4 to 12 ppm, myrcene 240 to 3600 ppm, N- decylaldehyde , neral, nerol, phosphorus 2140 ppm, potassium 23000 ppm, proteins 82000 ppm, quercetin, rutin, saponins, selenium 62 ppm, silicon 132 ppm, sodium 640 ppm, tin 7.1 ppm, triancontanol, zinc.
Taxonomy
It was first described in 1813 as Andropogon citratus DC. (= Basionym ) by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in Catalogus plantarum horti botanici monspeliensis. P. 78, written there as “citratum”. The new combination to Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf was published in 1906 by Otto Stapf in Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information Kew 1906. pp. 322, 357. Other synonyms for Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf are: Andropogon cerifer Hack. , Andropogon citratus DC. ex Nees , Andropogon citriodorum hort. ex Desf. , Andropogon nardus subsp. ceriferus (hack.) hack. , Andropogon roxburghii Nees ex Steud. , Andropogon schoenanthus L. , Cymbopogon nardus (L.) Rendle , Cymbopogon nardus subvar. citratus (DC.) Roberty .
origin
According to some authors, it is only known from culture, the original homeland is unknown. Still others state southern India and Sri Lanka as their homeland.
use
The reed-like green parts of the plant, especially the juicy stalks and the base of the leaves, are mainly used fresh in the kitchen as a spice . Dried lemongrass is commercially available in pieces or ground, but has a weak aroma.
The long, fresh leaves are also used in many Asian countries (for example in Thailand) for the preparation of thirst-quenching tea drinks. The stems are pounded soft before they are scalded with boiling water so that the essential oils dissolve particularly well. Lemongrass gives herbal tea blends an exotic note. Lemongrass is also used in other non-alcoholic beverages. It is used in baked goods and confectionery. The taste of lemongrass is fresh and lemon- like with a hint of rose fragrance. It gives dishes prepared with it a particularly rounded aroma. It is typical for many Vietnamese and Indonesian dishes. Lemongrass is now a common ingredient for various dishes and drinks in Central Europe .
The name of the drug is Herba Andropogonis , Cymbopogon citratus leaves (lemongrass) and Cymbopogon citrati aetheroleum ( lemongrass oil ).
Lemongrass oil is widely used as a fragrance in perfumes and cosmetics such as soaps and creams. The citral extracted from the oil is used as a flavoring for soft drinks, in scented soaps and detergents, as a fragrance in perfumes and cosmetics, and to mask unpleasant odors in various industrial products. Its essential oil has a lemon- like smell and taste and contains up to 80% citral and up to 20% myrcene . The essential oils of lemongrass and other aromatic sweet grasses are also used in deterrents against stinging insects ( repellents ).
In terms of medicinal effects, lemongrass is said to reduce flatulence. Antimicrobial activity is reported for Cymbopogon citratus . The oil from Cymbopogon citratus has a calming effect on the central nervous system. The oil may also have some pesticidal and mutagenic effects. It is also used as an ornamental plant in parks and gardens.
Cultivation
The two species of lemongrass ( Cymbopogon citratus and Cymbopogon flexuosus ) are grown on a commercial scale in India, Sri Lanka, Indochina, China, England, Africa, Central and South America. They thrive at temperatures of 18 to 29 ° C and annual rainfall of 700 to 4100 mm on sandy soils with good drainage with pH values of 5.0 to 5.8 ( Cymbopogon flexuosus ) or 4.3 to 8.4 ( Cymbopogon citratus ). A warm, humid climate and full sunlight is required for cultivation. The propagation takes place vegetatively . A plantation can be used for up to eight years after it has been replanted. There can be up to four harvests per year. There are a number of varieties. As an evergreen overwintering plant, its winter hardiness corresponds to USDA climatic zones 10 to 11, the underground parts of the plant probably survive in areas with USDA zone 8b.
Similar species
The " East Indian lemongrass " or "Indian lemongrass" ( Cymbopogon flexuosus ) comes from India , but is cultivated more for perfume production and as a medicinal herb , but not as a spice . The essential oil also contains up to 80% citral , but only a little myrcene. "Citronella" is a fragrant sweet grass with the scientific name Cymbopogon nardus . Its essential oil mainly contains ( depending on the subspecies) geraniol and citronellal . “Palmarosa” ( Cymbopogon martinii ), on the other hand, hardly has a citrus scent, but rather smells sweet and flowery. Its essential oil consists mainly of geraniol and a maximum of 10% citronellal. Citronella is also obtained from Cymbopogon winterianus .
Plant diseases
Lemongrass is attacked by the rust fungi Puccinia nakanishikii , Puccinia cymbopogonis and Puccinia purpurea .
swell
- Shou-liang Chen, Sylvia M. Phillips: Cymbopogon citratus. In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China. Volume 22: Poaceae. Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis 2006, ISBN 1-930723-50-4 , p. 627. (Description section)
- WD Clayton, MS Vorontsova, KT Harman, H. Williamson: Datasheet from GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora . (Section description)
- Bryan Kenneth Simon, 2012: Cymbopogon citratus at GrassWorld .
- Datasheet Lemongrass Cymbopogon spec. in Aromatic and Medicinal Plants by Purdue.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Cymbopogon citratus in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
- ↑ a b c d e f data sheet Lemongrass Cymbopogon spec. in Aromatic and Medicinal Plants by Purdue, 1997.
- ↑ a b c data sheet at Missouri Botanical Garden .
- ↑ a b c d e WD Clayton, MS Vorontsova, KT Harman, H. Williamson: Datasheet at GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora .
- ↑ a b c d e f Shou-liang Chen, Sylvia M. Phillips: Cymbopogon citratus. In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (Eds.): Flora of China. Volume 22: Poaceae. Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis 2006, ISBN 1-930723-50-4 , p. 627.
- ↑ Data sheet ( Memento from November 18, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) from Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
- ↑ a b data sheet ( memento from July 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) at the University of Mainz .
- ^ Cymbopogon citratus at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed August 12, 2013.}
- ↑ a b Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Cymbopogon citratus. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved March 28, 2018.
- ↑ Cymbopogon citratus (lemon grass) - Kew data sheet.
- ^ David John Mabberley: Mabberley's Plant-Book. A portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses. 3rd edition, Cambridge University Press 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-82071-4 . P. 246.
- ↑ George Baker Cummins: The Rust Fungi of Cereals, Grasses and Bamboos. Springer, Berlin 1971, ISBN 3-540-05336-0 .
literature
- D. Martinez, R. Hartwig: Pocket book of fragrances: a lexicon from A – Z. 1st edition. Verlag Harri Deutsch, Thun / Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-8171-1539-3 .
Web links
- Gernot Katzer's spice dictionary with many translations of the name
- Lemongrass. ( Memento of August 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: inAsien. 4/2004. (about lemongrass in culinary terms)