Lemon grass Herbal Medicine
This article discusses the medicinal uses, health Benefits, side effects and warnings of Lemon grass.
Lemon Grass is an herb largely popolar for its citrus flavour with a trace of ginger. It is widely used in cooking served to spice various Asian cuisines from Thai to Filipino dishes. Lemon grass is not only good for flavouring but it has been traditionally used as herbal medicine to treat various medical condition. Read on to discover the amazing uses of this lowly but useful herb.
Scientific Name: Cymbopogon citratus
Also knows as:
Brazil: Capim-cidrao, Capim-santo; Egypt: Lemon grass; English: Lemongrass, Citronella, Squinant; Ethiopia: Tej-sar Hindi: Sera, Verveine; Indonesian: Sereh; Italian: Cimbopogone; Malaysia: Sakumau; Mexico: Zacate limon; Swedish: Citrongräss; Thailand: Ta-khrai; Turkish: Limon out; USA and UK: Citronella
Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), a native herb from temperate and warm regions such as India, Philippines and Malaysia, is widely used in Asian cooking and is an ingredient in many Thai and Vietnamese foods. Lemon grass use in cooking has become popular in the Caribbean and in the United States for its aromatic citrus flavor with a trace of ginger.
Lemon grass is a member of a specie of grass that grows to as high as 1 meter with leaves of 1 to 1.5 centimeters in width that grows from a stalk of about 30 to 80 cm long with bulbous lower end. Lemon grass is a perennial and tufted grass that is commercially cultivated in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and China. Lemon grass is also cultivated in United States specifically in California and Florida. Propagation is by dividing the root clumps.
Lemon grass oil is extracted by steam distillation. Lemongrass oil has a lemony, sweet smell and is dark yellow to amber and reddish in color, with a watery viscosity. It is also known as ‘choomana poolu’ and is also referred to as ‘Indian Verbena’ or ‘Indian M`elissa oil’. Lemon grass oil is a valuable ingredient in cosmetics, perfumes and as fragrances for soaps and insect repellant’s.
Lemongrass is reportedly has a wide variety of therapeutic application and helath benefits. With limited research and studies conducted on humans, Lemon grass’ effectiveness is based mainly on the results from animal and laboratory studies as well as its reputation as a folk remedy.