6

Lemongrass Oil: As a Green Pesticide

N.C. Basantia

CONTENTS
6.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 94
6.2 Botany of the Plant................................................................................................................ 94
6.2.1 Taxonomic Classification......................................................................................... 94
6.2.2 Habitat and Distribution.......................................................................................... 94
6.2.3 Botanical Description of the Plant.......................................................................... 95
6.2.4 Leaves......................................................................................................................... 95
6.2.5 Flower......................................................................................................................... 95
6.3 Methods of Extraction of Oil............................................................................................... 95
6.3.1 Conventional Methods............................................................................................. 95
6.3.1.1 Distillation................................................................................................... 95
6.3.1.2 Soxhlet Extraction...................................................................................... 96
6.3.2 Novel Extraction Methods....................................................................................... 97
6.3.2.1 Microwave Extraction Method................................................................. 97
6.3.2.2 Subcritical Water Extraction..................................................................... 97
6.3.2.3 Supercritical Fluid Extraction................................................................... 97
6.3.2.4 Accelerated Solvent Extraction................................................................. 98
6.3.2.5 Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction............................................................... 98
6.4 Composition of Oil............................................................................................................... 99
6.4.1 Effect of Method of Extraction on Composition of Lemongrass Oil............... 101
6.5 Methods of Analysis........................................................................................................... 101
6.5.1 Bisulfite Method...................................................................................................... 102
6.5.2 Neutral Sulfite Method.......................................................................................... 102
6.5.3 Hydroxylamine Method........................................................................................ 102
6.5.4 Colorimetric Methods............................................................................................ 102
6.5.5 Gas–Liquid Chromatography and Gas Chromatography– Mass
Spectrometry Methods.......................................................................................... 103
6.6 Physicochemical Properties of Lemongrass Oil............................................................. 103
6.7 General Uses of Lemongrass Oil...................................................................................... 106
6.7.1 Food.......................................................................................................................... 106
6.7.2 Cosmetics and Personal Care Products............................................................... 107
6.7.3 Traditional Medicine.............................................................................................. 107
6.7.4 Pharmaceutical Uses.............................................................................................. 107
6.8 Insecticidal Activity of Lemongrass Oil.......................................................................... 109
6.8.1 Insecticidal Activity............................................................................................... 110
6.8.2 Larvicidal Activity.................................................................................................. 110
6.8.3 Lemongrass Oil as a Repellant............................................................................. 110
6.9 Advantages of Lemongrass Oil as a Pesticide................................................................ 111

93
94 Green Pesticides Handbook

6.10 Constraints of Lemongrass Oil as a Pesticide................................................................. 111

6.11 Lemongrass Oil–Based Insecticides................................................................................. 111
6.12 Conclusion........................................................................................................................... 112
References...................................................................................................................................... 112

6.1 Introduction
Lemongrass (Cymbopogon sp.) is an herb that is widely distributed in the tropical and sub-
tropical regions of Asia, Africa, Australia, and America. The genus Cymbopogon comprises
144 species and is famous for its high content of essential oil; it contains essential oil with
a fine lemon flavor. On account of their diverse use in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food,
flavor, and agriculture industries, the commercial value of some Cymbopogon species is
further enhanced by their ability to grow in moderate and extremely harsh climatic con-
ditions (Padalia et al. 2011). Cymbopogon citratus is ranked as one of the most widely dis-
tributed of the genus, being used in every part of the world. The traditional application
in different countries shows high applicability as a common tea, medicinal supplement,
insect repellant, insecticide, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic, and in flu control.

6.2 Botany of the Plant

6.2.1 Taxonomic Classification (Shah et al. 2011)

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Nagmoleophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae or Gramineae
Genus: Cymbopogon
Species: citratus, flexiuosus
Botanical name: Cymbopogon citratus

6.2.2 Habitat and Distribution

Most lemongrass is native to South Asia and Australia. The crop grows well in both tropi-
cal and subtropical climates at an elevation up to 900 m (above sea level). However, the
ideal conditions for lemongrass are a warm and humid climate with sufficient sunshine
and 250–330 cm of rainfall per annum, evenly distributed over most of the year. A tem-
perature ranging from 20°C to 30°C and sunshine throughout the year is conducive to a
high crop yield. Lemongrass can also be grown in semiarid regions receiving low to mod-
erate rainfall. Well-drained sandy loam is most suitable for the growth of the plant. It can
be grown on a variety of soils, ranging from loam to poor laterite. Java citronella is mainly
produced by Taiwan, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil, Ceylon, India, Argentina, Equador,
Lemongrass Oil 95

Madagascar, Mexico, and the West Indies. In India, lemongrass is widely cultivated in the
states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu in the southern region; parts of Uttar Pradesh
and Uttaranchal in the northern region; and Assam in the northeast region.

6.2.3 Botanical Description of the Plant

Lemongrass is a tall, perennial grass, about 1–1.8 m in height, and it throws up dense fas-
cicles of leaves from a short rhizome. The culm is stout and erect.

6.2.4 Leaves
The leaves of Cymbopogon sp. are long, glaucous, green, and linear, tapering upward. Along
the margins, the ligule is very short, the sheaths are terete, and those of the barren shoots
are wide and tightly elapsing at the base, and others are narrow and separating.

6.2.5 Flower
It is a short-day plant, and it produces profuse flowering. The inflorescence is a long spike
about 1 m in length.

6.3 Methods of Extraction of Oil

The common methods to extract essential oil from lemongrass are hydrodistillation (HD),
steam distillation, and water distillation. Although the process is very simple, it can induce
thermal degradation, hydrolysis, and water solubility of some fragrance constituents. In
order to overcome these drawbacks, a number of novel methods have been studied from
time to time, for example, microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD), subcritical water
extraction (SWE), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), accelerated solvent extraction (ASE),
and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE).

6.3.1 Conventional Methods
6.3.1.1 Distillation
Distillation is an extracting oil process that converts volatile liquid (essential oils) into a
vapor state and then condenses the vapor into a liquid state. There are different categories
of distillation processes, such as water distillation, steam distillation, and hydrodiffusion
(Ranjitha and Vijiyalakshmi 2014).

6.3.1.1.1 Water Distillation
In this process, the botanic material is completely immersed in water and the still is brought
to boil. It is used to protect the oils to a certain degree since the surrounding water acts as a
barrier to prevent overheating when condensed material cools down. The water and essen-
tial oil are separated, and the oil is decanted to use as an essential oil. Water distillation can
also be done at reduced pressure (under vacuum) to reduce the temperature to less than
100°C, which is useful in protecting the botanical material for obtaining the essential oil.
96 Green Pesticides Handbook

It is a simple and easy-to-operate extraction method of oil from plant species. Due to the
use of heat in this method, it may not be used on very fragile plant material. Oil compo-
nents like esters are sensitive to hydrolysis, while others like cyclic monoterpene hydro-
carbons, and aldehydes are susceptible to polymerization. Oxygenated compounds such
as phenols have a tendency to dissolve in distilled water, so their complete removal is not
possible. As water distillation tends to be a small operation, it takes a long time to accumu-
late much oil (Ranjitha and Vijiyalakshmi 2014).

6.3.1.1.2 Steam Distillation
In the steam distillation method, the botanical material is placed in a still and steam is
forced over the material. The hot steam is used to release the aromatic molecules from the
plant material. The steam forces the pockets to open, and then the molecules of these vola-
tile oils escape from the plant material and evaporate in the steam. The steam containing
the essential oil is passed through a cooling system to condense the steam, which forms
a liquid form of essential oil. Finally, the water is separated (Masango 2005; Ranjitha and
Vijiyalakshmi 2014).
The major advantage of steam distillation is that the temperature never goes above
100°C, so temperature-sensitive compounds can distilled. A disadvantage is that not many
compounds can be steam distilled—only the aromatic ones.

6.3.1.1.3 Hydrodiffusion
The hydrodiffusion method is similar to the steam distillation process. The main differ-
ence between these two methods is how the steam is introduced into the still. In the case
of hydrodiffusion, the steam is fed into the top, onto the botanical material, instead of from
bottom, as in normal steam distillation. The steam containing the essential oil is passed
through a cooling system to condense steam, which forms a liquid of essential oil, and
then water is separated (Ranjitha and Vijiyalakshmi 2014).
The main advantages of this method are that less steam is used, the processing time is
shorter, and there is a higher yield.

6.3.1.2 Soxhlet Extraction
Soxhlet extraction is a general and well-established technique that surpasses other con-
ventional extraction techniques in performance, except for limited fields of application, for
example, the extraction of thermolabile compounds. Most of the solvent extraction units
worldwide are based on Soxhlet principles with recycling of solvents. Basically, the equip-
ment consists of a drug holder extractor, a solvent storage vessel, a reboiler kettle, a con-
denser, a breather system, and supporting structures like a boiler, a refrigerated chilling
unit, and a vacuum unit (William 2007).
This technique is based on the choice of solvent coupled with heat or agitation. In this
process, the circulation of solvents causes the displacement of transfer equilibrium by
repeatedly bringing fresh solvent into contact with the solid matrix. This method main-
tains a relatively high extraction temperature and no filtration of extract is required (Shams
et al. 2015).
However, the limitation of this technique is that there is a possibility of thermal decom-
position of thermolabile targeted compounds because the extraction usually occurs at the
boiling point of the solvent for a long time.
Nidia et al. (2013) compared supercritical fluid extraction using carbon dioxide with the
Soxhlet and hydrodistillation processes for extraction of basil oil and reported a higher
Lemongrass Oil 97

yield of oil by Soxhlet extraction. The higher yield may be due to extraction of polar and
nonpolar compounds.

6.3.2 Novel Extraction Methods

6.3.2.1 Microwave Extraction Method
Solvent-free microwave extraction is used to separate the essential oil from plant material.
The method involves placing the sample in a microwave reactor without any addition of
organic solvent or water. The internal heating of the water within the sample distends
its cells and leads to rupture of the glands and oleiferous receptacles. This process frees
essential oil, which is evaporated by the in situ water of plant material.
A cooling system outside the microwave oven continuously condenses the vapors, which
are collected in specific glassware. The excess of water is refluxed back to the extraction
vessel in order to restore the in situ water to the sample.
The microwave isolation offers a net advantage in terms of yield and better oil com-
position. Furthermore, it is environmentally friendly. In this method, low-boiling-point
hydrocarbon compounds undergo decomposition (Marie et al. 2004; Ranjitha and
Vijiyalakshmi 2014).

6.3.2.2 Subcritical Water Extraction

Subcritical water extraction is the extraction using hot water under pressure. It has recently
emerged as a useful tool to replace traditional extraction methods. Subcritical water extrac-
tion is an environmentally clean technique that, in addition, provides higher extraction
yields to extract solid samples. Subcritical water extraction is carried out using hot water
(from 100°C to 374°C, the latter being the water critical temperature under high pressure
[usually up to 10 bars]), enough to maintain water in the liquid state. The most important
factor to take into account in this type of extraction procedure is the dielectric constant.
This parameter can be modulated easily within a wide range of values by only tuning the
extraction temperature.
Water at room temperature is very polar solvent, with a dielectric constant close to 80.
However, this level can be significantly decreased to values close to 27 when water is
heated up to 250°C while maintaining its liquid state applying pressure. The dielectric
constant value is similar to that of ethanol, and therefore is appropriate for solubilizing
less polar compounds.
Basically, the experimental setup needed to use this technique is simple. The instrumen-
tation consists of a water reservoir coupled to a high-pressure pump to introduce the sol-
vent into the system, an oven where the extraction cell is placed and where the extraction
takes place, and a restrictor to maintain the pressure along the extraction line. Extracts are
collected in the collector vial placed at the end of the extraction system (Shams et al. 2015).
The use of subcritical water extraction provides a number of advantages over traditional
extraction techniques. These are low extraction time, higher-quality extracts, lower cost of
the extractant agent, and being an environmentally cleaner technique (Shams et al. 2015).

6.3.2.3 Supercritical Fluid Extraction

Supercritical fluid extraction is used for the extraction of flavors and fragrances. SFE is a
separation technology that uses supercritical fluid as solvent. Every fluid is characterized
98 Green Pesticides Handbook

by a critical point, which is defined in terms of the critical temperature and critical pres-
sure. Fluids cannot be liquefied above the critical temperature regardless of the pressure
applied, but may reach the density close to the liquid state. A substance is considered to be
a supercritical fluid when it is above its critical temperature and critical pressure. Several
compounds have been examined as SFE solvents (e.g., hexane, pentane, butane, nitrous
oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, and fluorinated hydrocarbons).
The main supercritical solvent used is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide (critical condition
30.9°C and 73.8 bar) is cheap, environmentally friendly, and generally recognized as safe.
Supercritical carbon dioxide is also attractive because of its high diffusivity and easily tun-
able solvent strength. Another advantage is that carbon dioxide is gaseous at room tem-
perature and ordinary pressure, which makes analyte recovery very simple and results in
a solvent-free analyte (Taylor 1996; Ranjitha and Vijiyalakshmi 2014).

6.3.2.4 Accelerated Solvent Extraction

Accelerated solvent extraction is sometimes called pressurized solvent extraction (PSE). It
uses organic solvents at elevated pressure and temperature in order to increase the efficiency
of the extraction process. Increased temperature accelerates the extraction kinetics, and ele-
vated pressure keeps the solvent in a liquid state, thus enabling safe and rapid extraction.
Furthermore, high pressure forces the solvent into the matrix pores, and hence facilitates the
extraction of analyte. High temperature decreases the viscosity of the liquid solvent, allow-
ing a better penetration of the matrix and a weakened solute matrix interaction. Elevated
temperature enhances diffusivity of the solvent, resulting in increased extraction speed. The
solvent is selected based on the polarity of the analyte and compatibility with postextraction
processing equipment. In ASE applications, generally organic solvents are used in conven-
tional techniques, such as methanol. The use of hot water as the extraction solvent under
atmospheric or higher pressure is very efficient for extracting phytochemicals.
ASE has been reported to be more efficient than other extraction methods by consuming
less solvent and allowing faster extraction. However, since the extraction is performed at
elevated temperature, the thermal degradation is a cause of concern, especially for thermo-
labile compounds in extracts.
The efficiency of ASE is influenced by factors such as pressure, temperature, static extrac-
tion time, flush volume, and vessel void volume (Shams et al. 2015).

6.3.2.5 Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction
The mechanical effect of ultrasound accelerates the release of organic compounds within
the plant body due to cell wall disruption, mass transfer intensification, and easier access
of the solvent to the cell content. Ultrasound-assisted extraction is reported to be one of
the important techniques for extracting valuable compounds from the vegetable material
(Vilkhu et al. 2008). General ultrasonic devices are the ultrasonic cleaning bath and ultra-
sonic probe system.
The efficiency of UAE depends on various factors, such as the nature of the tissue
being extracted, the location of the component to be extracted, and pretreatment of the
tissue prior to extraction. UAE can extract analytes under a concentrated form, free from
any contaminants or artifacts. It has also advantages in terms of yield, selectivity, operat-
ing time, energy input, and preservation of thermolabile compounds (Shams et al. 2015).
Lemongrass Oil 99

6.4 Composition of Oil
The genus Cymbopogon is known to include about 140 species, of which more than 52 have
been reported to occur in Africa, 45 in India, 6 each in Australia and South America, 4 in
Europe, 2 in North America, and the remaining are distributed in South Asia. There is
a considerable variation in the qualitative and quantitative composition of essential oils
from different cultivars of Cymbopogon. On the basis of chemical similarity, the cultivars of
the genus Cymbopogon are divided into five chemical variants or groups within two series,
that is, Citrati and Rusae.
As explained earlier, lemongrass oil (Cymbopogon winterianus) contains a number of
fragrant fractions, of which citronellal, geraniol, and citronellol are the major com-
ponents and are responsible for the real chemistry of this essential oil (Leung 1980;
Evans 1989). Citronella oil has two chemotypes: Ceylon type and Java type (Jowitt 1908;
Guenther 1950).

• Ceylon type: The oil obtained from Cymbopogon nardus consists of camphene, dis-
pentene, citronellal, geraniol, granylacetate, nerol, citronellol, thuzylalcohol, bor-
neol, farnesol, linalool, and methyl eugenol. In this type, the content is 18%–20%
for geraniol, 9%–11% for limonene, 7%–11% for methyl isoeugenol, 6%–8% for cit-
ronellol, and 5%–15% for citronellal.
• Java type: This type of oil is obtained from C. winterianus Jowitt and con-
sists of limonene, citronellal, citral, geraniol, citronellol, citronellate, eugenol,
methyl eugenol, chavicol, sesquicitronellene, elemol, citronellyl oxide, γ- and
∂-­cadinene, vanillin, isovaleraldehyde, hexane-2-al, and 3-methyl pentanal. In
this oil, the content is 32%–45% for citronellal, 11%–13% for geraniol, 3%–8%
for geranyl acetate, and 1%–4% for limonene. The differences in two varieties
and the chemical composition of the essential oil have been recorded since
early times (Jowitt 1908; Guenther 1950). It was believed that the Java type vari-
ety contained around 85% of geraniol. On the other hand, the Ceylon type vari-
ety was reported to contain only 55%–65% of geraniol. A geraniol-rich mutant
containing as high as 60% of geraniol content has been developed (Ranaweera
and Dayananda 1996).

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of citronella oil revealed

the presence of many monoterpene hydrocarbons, amounting to more than 20% of the
oil in the Ceylon type, but only 3%–4% in the Java type. There is a high proportion of
hydrocarbons in the Ceylon type; the most abundant was found to be camphene. The
other hydrocarbons present were α- and β-pinene, sabinene, myrcene, car-3-ene, α- and
β-phellandrene, α- and β-terpenes, cis/trans-ocemene, terpinolene, and p-cymene. The
Java-type oil contains more oxy-terpenes than the Ceylon type. There is a great differ-
ence in the amount of geraniol in the two oils. However, the Java type contains much
more citronellal and citronellol. Another distinguishing feature of the Ceylon type is
the presence of methyl eugenol and methyl isoeugenol. Different Cymbopogon species
contain varying major compounds, such as citral, geraniol, citronellol, piperitone, and
elemin. The major components of the Cymbopogon species observed are mentioned in
Table 6.1.
100 Green Pesticides Handbook

TABLE 6.1
Major Components of Cymbopogon Species
Serial Molecular Country/ Content
Number Compound Formula Species Region % Reference
1 Citronellal C10H18O C. winterianus India 32.7 Wany et al. (2013)
C. nardus Malaysia 29.6 Wei et al. (2013)
C. winterianus Brazil 36.19 Leite et al. (2011)
C. winterianus Southeast 27.44 Quintans-Júnior et
Brazil al. (2008)
2 Citronellol C10H20O C. winterianus India 15.9 Wany et al. (2013)
C. winterianus Brazil 11.34 Leite et al. (2011)
C. winterianus Southeast 10.45 Quintans-Júnior et
Brazil al. (2008)
3 Geraniol C10H18O C. winterianus India 23.9 Wany et al. (2013)
C. martini India 84.16 Dubey et al. (1999)
C. winterianus Brazil 32.82 Leite et al. (2011)
C. winterianus S.E. Brazil 40.06 Quintans-Júnior et
al. (2008)
4 Myrcene C10H16 C. citratus Egypt 15.69 Mohamed et al.
(2012)
C. citratus Zambia 18.0 Chisowa et al. (1998)
C. citratus Nigeria 25.3 Kasali et al. (2001)
C. citratus Mali 9.1 Sidibé et al. (2001)
5 Neral C10H16 O C. flexuosus India 30.0 Chowdhury et al.
(2010)
C. flexuosus Burkina 34.6 Bassolé et al. 2011
Faso
C. flexuosus Brazil 30.1 Andrade et al. (2009)
(North)
C. flexuosus Egypt 34.98 Mohamed et al.
(2012)
C. flexuosus Zambia 29.4 Chisowa et al. (1998)
C. flexuosus Kenya 33.31 Matasyoh et al.
(2011)
C. giganteus Benin 19.93 Gbenou et al. (2013)
Republic
C.giganteus Nigeria 26.5 Kasali et al. (2001)
C.citratus Angola 28.26 Soares et al. (2013)
C.citratus Malaysia 50.81 Ranitha et al. (2014)
C.citratus Brazil 4.53 Leite et al. (2011)
6 Geranial C10H16O C. flexuosus India 33.1 Chowdhury et al.
(Kumaon) (2010)
India (Bihar) 42.4 Kumar (2013)
Brazil 50.0 Andrade et al. (2009)
Egypt 40.72 Mohamed et al.
(2012)
Zambia 39.0 Chisowa et al. (1998)
Kenya 39.53 Chisowa et al. (1998)
(Continued)
Lemongrass Oil 101

TABLE 6.1 (CONTINUED)

Major Components of Cymbopogon Species
Serial Molecular Country/ Content
Number Compound Formula Species Region % Reference
C. citratus Nigeria 33.7 Kasali et al. (2001
Angola 40.55 Soares et al. (2013)
Ivory Coast 34.0 Sidibé et al. (2001)
Mali 45.3 Sidibé et al. (2001)
Iran 39.16 Farhang et al. (2012)
7 Camphene C10H16 C. pendulus India 9.1 Wei et al. (2013)
C. winterianus India 8.0 Wany et al. (2013)
8 Lemonene C10H16 C. giganteus Cameroon 7.4 Jirovetz et al. (2007)
C. giganteus Burkina 42.0 Bassolé et al. (2011)
Faso
C. proximus Burkina 3.9 Menut et al. (2011)
Faso
9 Elemecin C12H16 O3 C. pendulus India 53.7 Shahi et al. (1997)
10 Linalool C10H18 O C. flexuosus India 2.6 Chowdhury et al.
(2010)
C. winterianus India 1.5 Wany et al. (2013)
C. martin India 2.0 Dubey et al. (1999)
C. nardus Malaysia 11.0 Wei et al. (2013)
11 Pipertone C10H18 O C. oliovieri Iran 72.8 Mahboubi et al.
(2012)
C. parkeri Iran 80.8 Bagheri et al. (2007)

6.4.1 Effect of Method of Extraction on Composition of Lemongrass Oil

It has been proven through a number of studies that the quality of essential oil mainly depends
on the procedure used to extract it. In contrast, these common methods can induce thermal
degradation, hydrolysis, and water solubilization of some fragrance constituents. Ranitha et al.
(2014) evaluated the effect of microwaves on the extraction of essential oil. The concentrations
of key compounds found in lemongrass oil were similar for both methods, but the oil composi-
tion revealed that a higher amount of oxygenated monoterpenes, such as linalool, geranic acid,
and citronellol, are present in essential oil isolated by MAHD. The quality of lemongrass oil
obtained by pressurized liquid extract (PLE) was compared with that of conventional extrac-
tion methods, hydrodistillation, and the Soxhlet extraction method. PLE gave the significantly
highest amount of neral and geraniol, followed by Soxhlet and hydrodistillation. This was due
to the ability of the solvent n-hexane to extract almost all nonvolatile and volatile compounds,
compared with hydrodistillation, which can only extract the volatile compounds (Nur et al.
2013). Obtained from dried lemongrass stems found to be better quality containing 90% citral
in comparision to steam distillation method (Ha et al. 2008).

6.5 Methods of Analysis
The classical methods of analysis of the essential oil of Citronella were primarily based, on
the one hand, on the estimation of total acetylizable material and, on the other hand, on
102 Green Pesticides Handbook

various rough solubility checks, such as Schimmel’s test, raised Schimmel’s test, and the
London solubility test. In addition, refractive index and optical rotation were specified.
As the new instrumental methods emerged, the new techniques of the characterization of
chemical compounds based on spectroscopic methods resulted in a major surge in natural
products research in the early 1960s, followed by the development of chromatographic
techniques such as gas–liquid chromatography (GLC), GC-MS, and GC–ion mobility spec-
trometry (IMS).
The quality of lemongrass oil is determined by its citral content. Various methods have
been reported in literature for the estimation of citral in lemongrass oil, and also for the
separation of citral from lemongrass oil. The common methods for the estimation and sep-
aration of citral are the bisulfite method, neutral sulfite method, hydroxylamine method,
and colorimetric methods.

6.5.1 Bisulfite Method
The bisulfite method is based on adduct formation. Upon shaking of a measured quantity
of oil with a hot aqueous solution of sodium bisulfite, an adduct is formed, which dissolves
on heating the solution. The noncitral portion of the oil separates as an oily layer, which
can be measured conveniently in the neck of a Cassia flask, and thereby the citral content
of the oil can be determined.

6.5.2 Neutral Sulfite Method

This is also an adduct formation reaction. In this method, the liberated sodium hydroxide
has to be neutralized periodically with acid to permit the reaction to go to completion.
However, the solution must not be permitted to turn acidic, as this would result in the for-
mation of the stable dihydrosulfonic compound, from which citral cannot be regenerated.
This method has all the disadvantages of the bisulfite method as a method of estimation
and also of separation. However, it offers certain advantages over the bisulfite method. By
using the indicator (phenolphthalein), the exact end point of the reaction can be determined.

6.5.3 Hydroxylamine Method
This method is also used for the estimation of citral in lemongrass oil. It makes use of
both hydroxylamine and hydroxylamine hydrochloride. After the reaction of this with
the carbonyl group, the mixture is titrated with standard alkali. The hydroxyl amine
method also has some defects. All the carbonyl groups present in lemongrass oil will
react with hydroxyl amine, and the value obtained will be much higher. However, this
method offers some advantages over the adduct formation process. Relatively small
amounts of the oil are required for estimation. The reaction of hydroxylamine with
aldehyde is rapid, thereby shortening the time required for the estimation. This method
proves to be exceptionally applicable to oils that contain large amounts of aldehydes. The
solution used for the standard procedure is stable and can be kept for longer periods.

6.5.4 Colorimetric Methods
The citral content of lemongrass oil has also been estimated by the coloring agent of Ehrlich
Miller. This coloring agent has been found to give better results, and the development of
Lemongrass Oil 103

color takes place rapidly and remains quite stable for a long time. The coloring agent is
prepared according to Ehrlich Miller and consists of the following solutions:

• 5% p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde solution in acetic acid

• 10% phosphoric acid solution in acetic acid

One milliliter of each of the above solutions is added to different amounts of citral in ace-
tic acid, whereby a marked color change from blue to pink can be observed. The percent-
age absorbance and extinction of the colored citral is then measured using a colorimeter,
and calibration graphs are plotted. The amount of citral in solutions can be compared with
that of known strength, and thus the percentage of citral can be determined. Here, we also
need solutions of citral with known strength.

6.5.5 Gas–Liquid Chromatography and Gas Chromatography– M ass

Spectrometry Methods
The GLC technique depends on the effectiveness of the volatility of the compounds and
constituents of the essential oils. However, in most cases a large number of chemical com-
pounds in essential oils were dependent on the extent up to which they could be effec-
tively separated. Thus, GLC offered a method of separation that could be achieved with a
very minute quantity of sample. The separated constituents are subjected to the new tech-
nique, such as mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy,
to determine their chemical structure. The separation of constituents is affected by the
type of stationery phase (column) and the temperature condition of separation. Various
researchers used various methods for the separation, identification, and quantification of
constituents (Table 6.2).

6.6 Physicochemical Properties of Lemongrass Oil

The physicochemical properties, such as appearance, color, solubility, specific gravity,
refractive index, and angular rotation, have been studied by various researchers. These
properties may vary from type to type and by method of extraction. There are several
standards framed at the national and international levels to maintain the quality of the
oil. The specifications for physicochemical properties per the Food Chemical Codex are
shown in Table 6.3.
Hazwan et al. (2014) studied the physical properties of citronella oil from different
sources obtained by three different extraction methods, such as ohmic heated hydrodistil-
lation, hydrodistillation, and steam distillation. The refraction index and specific gravity
at 20°C for all three different sources of oil were about 1.47 and 0.89, respectively. In addi-
tion, the color, which is an important feature to determine the consumer’s acceptability of
citronella oil products, was also measured. Normally, commercial citronella oil is yellow.
In this study, the intensities of yellow and red were measured. The citronella oil extracted
by ohmic heated hydrodistillation was in the range of 0.7 R 2.0 Y, whereas extracted citro-
nella oil by steam distillation exhibited color in the range of 0.5 R 3 Y. The characteristics
of the color red were possibly due to trans-β-caryophyllene and γ-cadinene constituents
in the citronella oil (Abena et al. 2007; Harjeet et al. 2011). However, no red color was found
104 Green Pesticides Handbook

TABLE 6.2
Methods Used for Analysis of Lemongrass Oil
Serial Source of Method of Number of
Number Oil Extraction Compounds Method Used Reference
1 Aerial parts Hydrodistillation 18 GC-FID Mohamed et
of C. citratus Column: HP-5 capillary 30 m × al. (2012)
0.32 mm i.d., 0.25 μ thickness
Detector: FID
Temp program: 50°C for
2 min @ 8°C/min to 240°C
Detector temp: 280°C
Injector temp: 240°C
2 Aerial parts Hydrodistillation 18 GC-MS Mohamed et
of C. citratus Column: VF-5MS capillary al. (2012)
30 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 μ
thickness
Detector: MSD
Temp program: 50°C–180°C @
5°C/min to 250°C
Carrier gas: Helium
Flow rate: 1 ml/min
Split ratio: 1:20
Ionization energy: 70 eV
3 Aerial parts Distillation 13 GC-MS Hazwan et
of C. nardus Column: HP-5MS capillary al. (2014)
30 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 μ
thickness
Detector: MSD.
Temp program: 70°C for
5 min @ 3°C/min to 325°C
Carrier gas: Helium
Flow rate: 1 ml/min
Split ratio: 100:1
Ionization EI mode energy:
70 eV
Detector temp: 280°C
Injector temp: 240°C
4 Aerial parts Pressurized 2 GC-MSD Nur Ain et
of C. citratus liquid Column: DB-5 capillary 20 m × al. (2013)
extraction 0.188 mm i.d., 0.4 μ thickness
Detector: FID
Temp program: 100°C for 1 min
@ 1°C/min to 120°C
Detector temp: 250°C
Injector temp: 300°C
(Continued)
Lemongrass Oil 105

TABLE 6.2 (CONTINUED)

Methods Used for Analysis of Lemongrass Oil
Serial Source of Method of Number of
Number Oil Extraction Compounds Method Used Reference
5 Leaves of C. Microwave- 7 GC-MSD Ranitha et
citratus assisted Column: HP-5MS capillary al. (2014)
hydrodistillation 30 m × 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 μ
thickness
Detector: MSD
Temp program: 50°C for 5 min,
then rise @ 3°C/min to 240°C,
then @ 5°C/min to 300°C
Carrier gas: Helium
Flow rate: 1 ml/min
Split ratio: 1:10
Ionization EI energy: 70 eV
6 Citronella Distillation 60 GC-FID Wijesekara
oil, Ceylon Column: 10% Carbowax (1973)
and Java Chromosorb W (2.7 × 3.2 mm)
type Detector: FID
Temp program: 60°C @ 2°C/
min to 220°C
Base attenuation: ×16
Note: EI, electron ionization; FID, flame ionization detector; Temp, temperature.

TABLE 6.3
Physicochemical Properties of Lemongrass Oil as per Food Chemical Codex
Serial Lemongrass Oil, East Lemongrass Oil, West
Number Parameter Indian Type Indian Type Reference
1 Description Dark yellow to light brown– Light yellow to light brown Food Chemical
red liquid with lemon odor liquid with light lemon Codex (2014)
odor
2 Specific 0.894–0.904 0.869–0.894 Food Chemical
gravity at Codex (2014)
20°C
3 Angular –10° to +0° –10° to +0° Food Chemical
rotation at Codex (2014)
20°C
4 Refractive 1.483–1.489 1.483–1.489 Food Chemical
index at 20°C Codex (2014)
7 Solubility Soluble in mineral oil, freely Soluble in mineral oil, freely Food Chemical
soluble in propylene glycol soluble in propylene glycol Codex (2014)
but insoluble in water and but insoluble in water and
glycerine, and dissolves glycerine, and yields
readily in alcohol cloudy solution with
alcohol
106 Green Pesticides Handbook

when the citronella oil was obtained by the hydrodistillation method. The appearance
of red color when using other extraction methods may also be caused by lipid oxidation
occurring in the extraction system. Essential oil obtained from C. citratus by microwave-
assisted hydrodistillation had the following characteristics: refractive index at 20°C, den-
sity (g/ml) at 27°C, color parameters are 1.483, 0.873 g/ml, and color as (L* = 97, a* = –2.44,
b* = 6.29), respectively (Vazquez-Briones et al. 2015).

6.7 General Uses of Lemongrass Oil

Lemongrass oil is one of the 20 most important essential oils that are traded globally (Lawrence
1993). Citronella oil is highly demanded because of its wide usage in perfumes and the soap
manufacturing, cosmetics, and flavoring industries, and because it is effective as an insect
repellant. This essential oil is characterized by a high content of citral, which is used as a raw
material for the production of ionone, vitamin A, and β-carotene. Due to its appealing citric
flavor and strong antimicrobial potential, it has been used as flavoring agent in several food
products and as a natural preservative for extending the shelf life of food products. In addi-
tion to food and cosmetics, this oil is also used in many traditional medicines and has great
potential in various pharmaceutical applications. The general uses of lemongrass oil are in
food, cosmetics and personal care products, traditional medicine, and pharmaceuticals.

6.7.1 Food
A recent consumer trend toward a preference for products with a lower salt and sugar
content presents a greater need for efficient food preservatives. However, an increasingly
negative consumer perception of synthetic food additives has spurred an interest in find-
ing natural alternatives. Essential oils like lemongrass oil are natural compounds that have
shown promising properties, such as antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral activities.
Moreover, essential oils have also been proven to have other diverse beneficial functions,
such as antidiabetic, antiradical, and antioxidant effects.
Apart from its appealing flavor, lemongrass (C. citratus) essential oil has been shown to
have antimicrobial potential. This makes it susceptible for incorporation in food products.
The oil of lemongrass could suppress the growth of mesophiles and psychrophiles in fresh-
cut apples (Raybaudi-Massilia et al. 2008). Tzortzakis and Economakis (2007) reported that
the essential oil of lemongrass oil inhibited the growth of Botrytis cinerea. Essential oil lem-
ongrass controls food spoilage and shows antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes
(Nguefack et al. 2004) and Staphylococcus aureus (Baratta et al. 1998). Although this essential
oil has shown to be a promising alternative to chemical preservatives against foodborne
pathogens, it presents special limitations that preclude its use in food products. Low water
solubility, high volatility, strong odor, and toxicological effects at high doses make it difficult
for food application. In addition to these drawbacks, the incorporation of oil–based com-
pounds like essential oil in aqueous food products is a big challenge since it shows physi-
cal and chemical instability when it is applied in food systems (McClements et al. 2004).
Therefore, several studies have shown that the use of nanoemulsion can be a great choice
for the application of essential oil in a food matrix. Kim et al. (2013) studied the plum coat-
ings of lemongrass oil incorporating carnauba wax–based nanoemulsion to evaluate anti-
microbial properties and physical and chemical changes in plums. The nanoemulsion was
able to inhibit the Salmonella and Escherichia coli population without changing the flavor,
Lemongrass Oil 107

fracturability, or glossiness of the product, and it reduces the ethylene production and retards
the changes in lightness and the concentration of phenolic compounds.
Essential oils as natural sources of phenolic components attract investigators to evaluate
their activity as antioxidants or free radical scavengers. Vazquez-Briones et al. (2015) studied
the antioxidant properties of essential oil obtained from C. citratus by the microwave-assisted
hydrodistillation extraction method. In this study, the phenolic content and antioxidant
capacity were reported to the tune of 149.2 ± 6 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per 100 ml
of oil and 44.06 ± 0.20 mg Trolox per ml of essential oil, respectively. Different antioxidant
capacity values were reported by different researchers (Selim 2011; Mirghani et al. 2012). The
difference in values is attributed to factors such as climate, soil composition, season, part of
the plant, age, and stage of growing of the plant (Angioni et al. 2006). C. citratus could be of
great interest in the food industry to be used as a natural additive for flavoring.

6.7.2 Cosmetics and Personal Care Products

The redolence of the oil enables its use in soaps, detergents, and the application in the
perfumery. Wuthi-udomlert et al. (2011) evaluated the antifungal activity of lemongrass
oil against Malassezia furfur, an opportunistic yeast associated with dandruff. Two percent
lemongrass oil shampoo provided the required qualities necessary for commercial use.
After being kept for 6 weeks at 28°C–30°C and 45°C, this formulated shampoo gave mini-
mum fungal concentrations (MFCs) against M. furfur of 75 and 18.75 μl/​ml, respectively.
The 2% concentration of lemongrass oil was selected because of the smell, consistency, and
stability of the shampoo.

6.7.3 Traditional Medicine
In traditional medicine, the oil has been used as an aromatic tea, vermifuge, diuretic, and
antispasmodic. Lemongrass is a folk remedy for coughs, elephantiasis, flu, gingivitis, head-
ache, leprosy, malaria, ophthalmic, pneumonia, and vascular disorders. Studies have shown
that lemongrass has antibacterial and antifungal properties. The traditional use includes
treatment of fever, intestinal parasites, and digestive and menstrual problems. Mixed with
pepper, it is a homeotherapy for menstrual troubles and nausea. Lemongrass is a good
cleanser that helps to detoxify the liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and digestive tract. It
cuts down uric acid, cholesterol, excess fats, and other toxins in the body, while stimulating
digestion, blood circulation, and lactation; it also alleviates indigestion and gastroenteritis.
It is said that lemongrass also helps improve the skin by reducing acne and pimples and
acts as a muscle and tissue toner. Also, it can reduce blood pressure. A recent study by the
Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOES)
showed that lemongrass can help prevent cancer. It has many uses in aromatherapy (Karkala
and Bhushan 2014). It can be used as massage oil for aching joints and muscles. When mental
illness has to be treated, citronella can be clarifying and balancing. Combining it with lemon
oil can bring an even greater brightening effect to the mind.

6.7.4 Pharmaceutical Uses
A vast array of ethnopharmacological applications of lemongrass exist today. Its health
restorative capacity may be ascribed to the diverse secondary metabolites it produces.
The pharmacological activity of lemongrass oil is summarized in Table 6.4. Batubara
et al. (2015) confirmed the ability of β-citronellol, the major component of lemongrass
 108

TABLE 6.4
Pharmacological Actions of Lemongrass Oil (Cymbropogon citratus)
Serial Biological
Number Activity Constituents Observation Potential Use Reference
1 Antimicrobial Ethanolic extracts of Antibacterial property Potential antibacterial Danlami et al. (2011)
activity the leaves against Staphylococcus property against
Flavonoids and aureus Staphylococcus aureus
tannins
2 Antifungal Lemongrass oil and The antifungal activity of Formulating herbal Taweechaisupapong
activity citral lemongrass and citral drugs for oral et al. (2012)
against Candida species healthcare
3 Antiprotozoan Citral and major The promasigotes of Lemongrass may be Machado et al.
activity constituents of Leishmania infantum foreseen as an (2012)
lemongrass oil undergo programmed cell antiprotozoan drug
death upon exposure to of the future
citral and constituents of
lemongrass oil
4 Antioxidant Phenolic acids present Showed the antioxidant Garg et al. (2012)
activity in the plant profile
5 Antidiarrheal Citral Relief in diarrhea Tangpu and Yadav
activity (2006)
6 Anticancerous Emulsion of citral and Anticancerous properties The constituents of Ghosh (2013)
activity lemongrass oil on cervical cell lines lemongrass may be
used to form potent
anticancer drugs in
the future
7 Antiviral Lemongrass oil and Reduced viral infectivity by Can be used to Gilling et al. (2014)
activity citral coating the viral capsid and sanitize food and
preventing it from binding surfaces to prevent
to the host cell viral infection
Green Pesticides Handbook
Lemongrass Oil 109

oil, to bring about a reduction in weight of rats fed a high-fat diet. Inhalation of vapors
of β-citronellol enhances the sympathetic nerve activity of the rats, which leads to
increased activity in the adipose tissue, resulting in weight loss without affecting
the concentration and activity of the liver enzymes. The essential oil of lemongrass
is also used to maintain oral health. The antagonistic activity of lemongrass against
the planktonic and biofilm forms of Candida dubliniensis, a common oral pathogen, has
been reported. Therefore, lemongrass may be used in formulating herbal drugs for oral
healthcare (Taweechaisupapong et al. 2012). The essential oil of C. citrus has been shown
to have anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, analgesic, and anxiolytic effects (Blanco et
al. 2009; Sforcin et al. 2009; Gbenou et al. 2013). It has been reported that the lemongrass
is bestowed with hypolipidemic, hypocholesterimic, and hypoglycemic properties. The
antagonistic activity of lemongrass toward different pathogenic bacteria, protozoa, and
fungi has also been reported. Research on antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activi-
ties, along with GC-MS analysis of lemongrass oil, revealed that the major constituents,
like limonene, nerol, gerianal, geraniol, and myrcene, may be responsible for its micro-
bicidal and anti-inflammatory effects. It has been reported that the promastigotes of
Leishmania infantum undergo programmed cell death upon exposure to citral, the major
component of lemongrass oil (Machado et al. 2012).
The combination of silver nanoparticles and the oil has synergistic inhibitory action on
the growth of pathogens like E. coli, Staphylococcus, Moraxella, Enterococcus, and Candida sp.
Citronella oil also exhibits antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger. The anti-­inflammatory
effect is through inhibition of production of IL-1β by bioactive compounds of lemongrass oil
(citral, neral, and geranial) (Perez et al. 2011). An antiviral effect of lemongrass against an envel-
oped murine novovirus has been reported (Gilling et al. 2014). The bioactive compounds in cit-
ronella oil are studied for their anticancerous properties. An emulsion of citral and lemongrass
oil exhibited anticancerous properties on cervical cell lines by reducing cell proliferation and
initiating apoptosis (Ghosh 2013). Hence, it is envisaged that the constituents of lemongrass
may be used to form potent anticancer drugs in the future.

6.8 Insecticidal Activity of Lemongrass Oil

The development of natural products for pest control is increasingly important, since some
synthetic pesticides are associated with environmental concerns or are being withdrawn
for economic and regulatory reasons. In addition, pesticides sometimes lose their effec-
tiveness due to the difficulty of managing pest resistance, and the search for new synthetic
compounds is increasingly time-consuming and expensive. Plant secondary metabolites
play an important role in plant–insect interaction, and such compounds may have insec-
ticide, hormonal, or antifeedant activity against insects (Bernays and Chapman 1940). The
essential oil compounds and their derivatives are considered to be an alternative means of
controlling many harmful insects because these compounds are very specific to harmful
insects but do not affect the beneficial insects, and they degrade rapidly unlike synthetic
compounds. Essential oils of plants contain a number of bioactive compounds that may
exert regulatory or inhibitory influence on insect life processes, such as growth and devel-
opment, reproduction, and orientation. Recent research has demonstrated their larvici-
dal and antifeedant activity, capacity to delay development, adult emergence and fertility,
deterrent effects on oviposition, and arrestant and repellent action.
110 Green Pesticides Handbook

6.8.1 Insecticidal Activity
Among the compounds present in essential oils, monoterpenes are usually the main compo-
nent, and are consequently regarded as a candidate for insecticidal activity. These natural
compounds have been proposed as lead compounds for the development of safe, effective,
and fully biodegradable insecticides. Most of the monoterpenes are cytotoxic to plants and
animal tissue, causing a drastic reduction in the number of mitochondria and Golgi bod-
ies, impairing respiration and photosynthesis and decreasing cell membrane permeability
(Tripathi et al. 2009). At the same time, they are volatile and may serve as chemical messen-
gers for insects. The doses of essential oils needed to kill insects or pests and their mecha-
nism of action are potentially important for the safety of humans and other vertebrates.
Therefore, the target sites and mode of action need to be understood and well elucidated.
Although a little is known about the physiological actions of essential oils on insects, treat-
ment with various essential oils and their constituents causes symptoms that suggest a
neurotoxic mode of action. A monoterpenoid linalool has been demonstrated to act on the
nervous system, affecting ion transport and the release of acetylcholine esterase in insects
(Re et al. 2000).
Sudiarta et al. (2013) studied the effect of lemongrass oil extracted from C. citratus on
Plutella xylostella, which causes club root disease in cabbage. The phytotoxicity test was
conducted in the field with several concentrations of lemongrass (5%, 2.5%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.25%,
and 0.1%). The results showed that a high concentration of lemongrass (10%) was effective
as a phytotoxic, with burn symptoms of the cabbage leaf. However, low concentrations (1%
and 0.5%) of lemongrass oil can control the population of P. xylostella without any phyto-
toxicity. The essential oils of Cymbopogon martini have been studied and found to display
high anthelmintic activity against Caenorhabditis elegans at an ED50 value of 125.4 μg/ml.
Essential oils of C. citratus in West Africa displayed about a 100% mortality rate against
adult Anopheles gambiae (Nonviho et al. 2010). The essential oil from C. winterianus has
caused a dose-dependent mortality of Culex quinquefasciatus.

6.8.2 Larvicidal Activity
To minimize and eradicate the occurrence of mosquito-borne diseases, many steps have
been taken to prevent their spread to different extents, for example, mosquito eradication
at an early stage, disease prevention via prophylactic drugs and vaccines, and the preven-
tion of mosquito bites using repellants. Out of these, larviciding has the greatest impact
on the mosquito population because the larvae are concentrated, immobile, and accessible.
Nazar et al. (2009) studied the larvicidal effect of C. citratus essential oil against Cx. quin-
quefasciatus larva and reported an LC50 value of 24 mg/L. The essential oil from C. citratus
had a larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti, causing 100% mortality at a concentration of
100 ppm (Cavalcanti et al. 2004).

6.8.3 Lemongrass Oil as a Repellant

Very little is known about the receptors responsible for the repellent responses in cock-
roaches. Oleic acid and linoleic acid have been indicated in death recognition and death
aversion in cockroaches, and the term necromone has been proposed to describe the com-
pound responsible for this type of behavior (Rollo et al. 1995).
Lemongrass Oil 111

Citronella oil has repellency activity against Ae. aegypti mosquitoes. The extracted oil was
microencapsulated (1.5% gelatin and 1.5% arabic gum by a complex coacervation method).
This citronella oil was treated on cotton fabrics using gelatin and gum acacia microcap-
sules by the pad dry method, in which 15%, 30%, and 50% repellency effects were studied.
The 50% concentrated repellents gave the best mosquito repellency. However, the microen-
capsulated oil gave a better repellant effect for a longer time (Murugan et al. 2012).

6.9 Advantages of Lemongrass Oil as a Pesticide

The constituents of lemongrass oil are selective and have little or no harmful effect on
the environment and the nontarget organism. Due to the multiple sites of action through
which the constituents can act, the probability of developing a resistant population is very
low. These botanical insecticides degrade rapidly in air and moisture, and detoxification
enzymes break them readily. Due to rapid breakdown, they are less persistent in the envi-
ronment (Koul et al. 2008).

6.10 Constraints of Lemongrass Oil as a Pesticide

The efficacy of these materials falls short when compared with synthetic pesticides.
Essential oils also require somewhat greater application rates (as high as 1% active
ingredients) and may require frequent reapplication when used outdoors. The com-
mercial application of plant essential oil–based pesticides has challenges, like having
sufficient quantities of plant material, the standardization and refinement of pesticide
products, the protection of technology, and regulatory approval. In addition, as the
chemical profile of plant species can vary naturally, depending on geographic, genetic,
and climatic annual or seasonal factors, pesticide manufacturers have to take addi-
tional steps to ensure that their product will perform consistently. All this requires
substantial costs, and smaller companies are not willing to invest the required funds
unless there is a high probability of recovering the costs through some form of market
exclusivity. Finally, once all these issues are addressed, regulatory approval is required
(Mohan et al. 2011).

6.11 Lemongrass Oil–Based Insecticides

The commercial plant product based on lemongrass oil, available as the trade name
Green Match EX™, contains essential oils of lemongrass from C. nardus, C. citratus, and
Cymbopogon flexiosus containing citronellal and citral as the main bioactive compounds.
This formulation is used as an insecticide (Fischer et al. 2013).
112 Green Pesticides Handbook

6.12 Conclusion
Lemongrass oil (Cymbopogon sp.) consists of a diverse array of bioactive compounds and
exhibits a wide range of activities, such as antimicrobial, antioxidative, anticarcinogenic,
antiviral, and insecticidal activities. Therefore, this oil has great potential not only in food,
pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, but also as an insect repellant. It is expected that the inno-
vative formulation of pesticides based on this essential oil will find their greatest com-
mercial application in urban pest control, vector control vis-à-vis human health, and pest
control in agriculture, and will help in organic food production systems, where a few
alternative pesticides are available.

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