Comparison of Essential Oil Content and Composition of Different Parts of Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf (Poaceae) Grown in Sri Lanka

The Lemongrass, Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, is an important species of Poaceae family commonly used in the cosmetic, food and in folk medicines in many countries. The aim of this study was to compare the variation of essential oil content and composition of different parts of the plant with the maturity of lemongrass. The Essential oil content and composition of different parts of lemongrass were determined using Clevenger type apparatus and GC-MS respectively. Essential oil content was significantly higher in leaves (0.91%) followed by sheath (0.7%) and roots (0.2%) respectively. Leaf essential oil content was increased with the maturity of the plant. The number of constituent’ presence in leaf, sheath and root of C. citratus were 9, 14 and 17 respectively. Moreover, out of 20 constituents identified from all 3 parts of lemongrass, only 6 constituents were common for all three parts, while the composition of root essential oil was significantly different from leaf and sheath essential oil. The major compounds found in leaf and sheath essential oil of C. citratus were geranial, neral, β- myrcene and geraniol while root essential oil contained mainly Selina-6- en-4-ol (28.08%) followed by geraniol (10.70%), t-muurolol (9.61%), neral and longifolene respectively. Based on results, it could be concluded that in addition to the lemongrass leaf, sheath and root also equally important for use in multipurpose industries.