Abstract
Citronella oil is the main product of Java citronella grass (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt) rich in geraniol and citronellol, widely used in mosquito repellents and perfumeries. The age of the plant plays a key role in oil composition and its yield such that young leaves have lesser oil content than the mature leaves. Also, a remarkable difference between fresh and dried leaves regarding oil yield is observed. The various methods of extracting essential oils from citronella grass with respect to yield (%) were studied. Average percent yield in the manual extraction and hydro-distillation procedure was 0.8 and 1 % respectively, which was better as compared to steam distilled oil (0.7 %). The chromatographic analysis of essential oils with respect to standards geraniol and citronellol were studied by high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) with n-hexane and ethyl acetate (3:2) as mobile phase followed by its separation on plates. The developed plates showed geraniol, citronellol and citronellal as major bands. The analysis of all extracted oil samples by means of electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) in the positive ion mode showed rapid mass fingerprints of constituents present in the samples according to the observed mass of standards. Furthermore, the analysis of vibrational spectra was accomplished with Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) specifying all the functional groups as major peaks confirming all of them as monoterpene alcohols with conjugated double bonds. Thus, HPTLC, ESI-MS and FTIR studies evidenced that the two essential oil components were majorly present in the methanol extract suggesting methanol as a good extractant in the manual extraction process.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beneti SC, Rosset E, Corazza ML, Frizzo CD, Luccio MD, Oliveira JV (2011) Fractionation of citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus) essential oil and concentrated orange oil phase by batch vacuum distillation. J Food Eng 102:348–354
Blanco MM, Costa CARA, Freire AO, Santos JG Jr, Costa M (2007) Neurobehavioral effect of essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus in mice. Phytomedicine. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.04.007.2007
Cassel E, Vargas RMF (2006) Experiments and modelling of the Cymbopogon winterianus essential oil extraction by steam distillation. J Mex Chem Soc 50:126–129
Catharino RR, Haddad R, Cabrini LG, Cunha IBS, Sawaya ACHF, Eberlin MN (2005) Characterization of vegetable oils by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry fingerprinting: classification, quality, adulteration, and aging. Anal Chem 77:7429–7433
Coates J (2000) Interpretation of infrared spectra: a practical approach. In: Meyers RA (ed) Encyclopedia of analytical chemistry. Wiley, Chichester, pp 10815–10837
Jirovetz L, Buchbauer G, Denkova Z, Stoyanova A, Murgov I, Schmidt E, Geissler M (2006) Antimicrobial testings and gas chromatographic analysis of pure oxygenated monoterpenes 1,8-cineole, α-terpineol, terpinen-4-ol and camphor as well as target compounds in essential oils of pine (Pinus pinaster), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and tea tree (Melalaeuca alternifolia). Sci Pharm 73:27–39
Katiyar R, Gupta S, Yadav KR (2011) Cymbopogon winterianus: an important species for essential Java citronella oil and medicinal values. In: National conference on forest biodiversity: earth’s living treasure FRI Kanpur
Katz TM, Miller JH, Hebert AA (2008) Insect repellents: historical perspectives and new developments. J Am Acad Dermatol 58:865–871
Khanuja SPS, Shasany AK, Pawar A, Lal RK, Darokar MP, Naqvi AA, Rajkumar S, Sundaresan V, Lal N, Kumar S (2005) Essential oil constituents and RAPD markers to establish species relationship in Cymbopogon Spreng. (Poaceae). Biochem Syst Ecol 33:171–186
Lehri A, Barthwal J, Niranjan A, Amla DV (2011) Development and validation of HPTLC densitometric method for identification and quantification of geraniol in palmarosa oil. J Planar Chromatogr 24:316–319
Mendes MF, Pessoa FLP, Melo SBV de, Queiroz EM (2007) Extraction modes. In: Hui YH (eds) Handbook of food products manufacturing. Wiley, pp 147–156
Nigam MC, Nigam IC, Levi L (1965) Essential oils and their constituents XXV thin layer chromatography. Some chemical and chemotaxonomic applications. J Soc Cosmet Chem 16:155–168
Padalia RC, Verma RS, Chanotiya CS, Yadav A (2011) Chemical fingerprinting of the fragrant volatiles of nineteen Indian cultivars of Cymbopogon Spreng. (Poaceae). Rec Nat Prod 5:290–299
Sangwan NS, Yadav U, Sangwan RS (2001) Molecular analysis of genetic diversity in elite Indian cultivars of essential oil trade types of aromatic grasses (Cymbopogon species). Plant Cell Rep 20:437–444
Schulz H, Ozkanb G, Baranska M, Kruger H, Ozcan M (2005) Characterization of essential oil plants from Turkey by IR and Raman spectroscopy. Vib Spectrosc 39:249–256
Setiawati W, Murtinigsih R, Hasyim A (2011) Laboratory and field evaluation of essential oils from Cymbopogon nardus as oviposition deterrent and ovicidal activities against Helicoverpa armigera Hubneron chilli pepper. Indonesian J Agric Sci 12:9–16
Shasany AK, Lal RK, Darokar MP, Patra NK, Garg A, Kumar S, Khanuja SPS (2000) Phenotypic and RAPD diversity among Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt accessions in relation to Cymbopogon nardus Rendle. Genet Resour Crop Evol 47:553–559
Silva CF, Moura FC, Mendes MP, Pessoa FLP (2011) Extraction of citronella (Cymbopogon nardus) essential oil using supercritical carbon dioxide: experimental data and mathematical modeling. Brazilian J Chem Eng 28:343–350
Simic A, Rancic A, Sokovic MD, Ristic M, Grujic-Jovanovic S, Vukojevic J, Marin PD (2008) Essential oil composition of Cymbopogon winterianus and Carum carvi and their antimicrobial activities. Pharm Biol 46:437–441
Vargas CE, Mendes MF, Azevedo DA, Pessoa FLP, Uller AC (2010) Extraction of the essential oil of abajeru (Chrysobala musicaco) using supercritical CO2. J Supercrit Fluids 52:171–177
Acknowledgments
The authors sincerely thank Dr. S. Jha (Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, BIT, Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India) for identifying the flowering specimen. UGC, New Delhi, India is gratefully acknowledged for providing financial support to Ms. Aakanksha Wany (F1-17.1/2012-13/MANF-2012-13-CHR-CHH-9539) as JRF. The authors are grateful for the facility of FT-IR provided by the Central Instrumentation Facility, TEQIP, Department of Biotechnology, BIT, Mesra. The technical support and help provided by Mr. Puspendra Patel (Research Scholar), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, BIT, Mesra for HPTLC and Clevenger’s apparatus is greatly acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wany, A., Kumar, A., Nallapeta, S. et al. Extraction and characterization of essential oil components based on geraniol and citronellol from Java citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt). Plant Growth Regul 73, 133–145 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-013-9875-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-013-9875-7