MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC CROPS (2+1)

Description, types and varieties of the plant

Lemon grass grows to a height of about 3m. The leaves of the plant are linear, lanceolate, 125cm long and 1.7 cm broad. The plant is spreading, 100 -135 cm tall, slightly hairy.

There are two main types of lemon grass namely,

• The East Indian or true lemon grass (C. flexuosus) and
• The West Indian lemon grass (C. citratus)




The oil obtained by the distillation of the grass of C. flexuosus called the East Indian oil, is the genuine oil of commercial importance. It is produced in Kerala and is popularly called the Cochin oil, since it is shipped mainly from the port of Cochin. A small quantity of oil is also obtained from C. pendulus, popularly known as North Indian lemon grass or Jammu lemon grass, since it is grown mainly in Jammu and other North Indian States. The West Indian (South American) oil of C. citratus is extracted in Indo- China, Madagascar, Guatemala, Brazil, Congo and West Indies. It is found that the East Indian oil produced in South India is readily soluble in alcohol. Both the type have practically the same citral content (75-86%), but the West Indian oil along with citral contains other aldehydes which lower the quantity of the oil. In C. flexuosus the red stemmed plant with chocolate to purple coloured stems, yields the genuine oil, while the white stemmed grass does not. Recently a new species C. khasianus has been discovered which is important for its geraniol content. Some lemon grass varieties released for cultivation are given below.

Sugandhi (OD-19):

It was released from the Aromatic and Medicinal Plant Research Station (AMPRS) Odakkali, Kerala. This variety is red in colour and is adapted to a wide range of soil and climatic conditions. The plant grows from 1- 1.75 m height and with profuse tillering yields 80-199 kg/ha of oil with 80-88% citral under rain-fed conditions.

Pragathi:

It is a clonal selection from OD-19, evolved at CIMAP, Lucknow. The variety is tall with a dark purple leaf-sheath and is adapted to the North Indian plains and Terai belts of subtropical and tropical climates. The average oil content is 0.63% with 86% being the citral content.

Praman:

Evolved through clonal selection from C.pendulus at the CIMAP, Lucknow, it is a tetraploid plant with a profuse tillering habit. The leaves are erect and medium in size. The variety is reported to yield 227kg/ha/annum of oil with 82% citral content.

RRL- 16:

It is evolved from C. pendulus and released for cultivation from the RRL, Jammu as Jammu lemon grass. The average yield of the herb is 15-20t/ha/annum, giving 100-110 kg of oil. The oil content varies from 0.6 -0.8% with 80% citral content.

CKP- 25:

It is interspecific hybrid between C. khasianus and C. pendulus, developed by the RRL, Jammu. The strain gives herb yield of 80-85 t and 350-400 kg/ha/annum of oil. The citral content in the oil ranges from 80-85%


In addition to the above, OD-408 from the AMPRS, Odakkali, RRL-39 from RRL, Jammu and Kaveri and Krishna from the CIMAP, Regional Station, Bangalore, have been recently released as high yielding varieties for cultivation. The other varieties under cultivation are SD-68 and GRL-1.