Citronella Oil

CITRONELLA OIL

Synonyms

Citronella grass, Nardus, Mana grass, Nard grass.

Biological Source

It is the oil obtained by the steam distillation of fresh leaves of Cymbopogon nardus (L.) Rendle, belonging to family Poaceae.

Geographical Source

Citronella is native to Southeast Asia and grown com-mercially in Sri Lanka, India, Burma, Indonesia, and Java. In South Florida and southern California it is grown as an ornamental.

Cultivation and Collection

It is propagated by seed. It needs a long, warm season and may not survive cool damp winters. They are sown in summer at an altitude of 2,000–3,000 m above sea level. It requires an annual rainfall of not less than 750 mm. The crop requires proper irrigation and gets ready for harvest after eight months of growth.

Characteristics

It is a tall, tufted perennial, clump-forming tropical grass with narrow leaf blades. They grow to a height of 5–6 ft. The leaves are greyish green, flat, about 3 ft long, and 1 inch wide. Citronella oil has a slightly sweet, lemony smell. It is pale greenish yellow in colour.

Chemical Constituents

Citronella grass contains of volatile oil. The main chemical components of citronella oil are citronellic acid, geran-iol, nerol, citral, borneol, camphene, citronellol, citronellal, dipentene, and limonene. It consist about 3.0% limonene; 35.3% citronellal; 12.0% citronellol, 24.9 % geraniol, 4.3% citronellyl acetate, 6.3% geranyl acetate, and 0.8% linalool.

Uses

Citronella grass is the source of the commercial citronella oil, used in perfumery, as an insect repellent. Citronella oil is antiseptic, deodorant, tonic, insecticide, diaphoretic, parasitic, bactericidal, and stimulant. Citronella oil can be mixed with other vegetable oils and used in massage on skin for an insect repellent.