Comparative study of root, stalk and leaf essential oils of Cymbopogon citratus (lemon grass)

The root, stalk and leaf essential oils of Cymbopogon citratus grown in Kaduna, North Central Nigeria were extracted separately by hydrodistillation and characterized by GC-MS. The chemical composition analysis by GC-MS of the oils allowed the identification of 34, 26 and 16 compounds respectively. In the three oils, the main components were the isomers geranial and neral, which together form the compound citral. This corresponds to a total of 8.7, 27.8 and 35.1% of the compounds identified in the root, stalk and leaf oils respectively. The results obtained revealed a significant variability in the chemical composition and yield of the essential oils.Keywords: Chemical composition, Cymbopogon citratus, Citral, Essential oil, GC/MS, Yiel