Essential Oil and Citral Production in Field-Grown Lemongrass in Response to Gamma-Irradiated Chitosan

ABSTRACT

A field trial was conducted to study the effect of foliar application (0, 40, 60, 80, and 100 mg.L^–1) of irradiated chitosan (ICH) on the growth characteristics, biochemical parameters, and yield and quality attributes of lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus). The lemongrass essential oil (EO) was extracted using Clevenger-type apparatus and analyzed using gas chromatography (GC). ICH at 80 mg.L^–1 increased the carbonic anhydrase activity (21.5%), nitrate reductase activity (17.4%), and chlorophyll fluorescence (14.6%); it also increased the content and yield of EO by 36.7% and 98.0%, respectively, and the citral content by 13.5%.

KEYWORDS:

• Chitosan oligomers
• chlorophyll fluorescence
• Cymbopogon flexuosus
• gas chromatography
• monoterpenes

Funding

Financial support by the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India (Project No. 2013/35/23/BRNS), is gratefully acknowledged.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support by the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India (Project No. 2013/35/23/BRNS), is gratefully acknowledged.