Qualitative performance of Java citronella

Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Sciences 31 (4) (2009) 321-325

Qualitative performance of Java citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt) cultivars in Kumaon Himalaya R. S. VERMA, LAIQ-UR-RAHMAN*, R. K. VERMA, AMIT CHAUHAN, ANAND SINGH, A. K. KUKREJA** AND S. P. S. KHANUJA** Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Resource Centre Purara, P.O.- Gagrigole, Bageshwar, Uttrakhand-263688, India. Received 11th March, 2008

oil per annum [5]. The chemical composition of Java citronella oil has studied by number of researchers and it is influenced by climatic conditions, harvesting time [17], storage prior to distillation [16], iron chlorosis [11] and alternate sunshine with light rain [2].

ABSTRACT Qualitative performance of five varieties of Java citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus) was assessed during summer, rainy and winter seasons in Kumaon region of western Himalayas. The essential oil contents varied from 0.63%-1.82% in cultivars Manjusha, Mandakini, Jalpallavi, Bio-13 and Medini. Major components in the oils of all the cultivars except Medini were citronellal, geraniol, citronellol, geranyl acetate, citronellyl acetate, elemol and limonene. In cultivar Manjusha, Mandakini and Bio-13, citronellal content was higher in summer (37.29%, 34.80% and 42.50%, respectively) followed by rainy season (30.82%, 32.75% and 40.61%, respectively), while cultivar Jalpallavi had recorded maximum citronellal content during rainy season (39.95%). Cultivar Medini was found to be geraniol rich where geraniol concentration was higher during summer (45.74%) followed by winter (43.71%).

Cymbopogon prefers high temperature and high humid weather coupled with abundant sunlight round the year. It is reported that the ideal elevation for commercial cultivation is upto 300m above sea level [3]. In natural habitat Cymbopogons are found to occur up to elevation of 1500m. Successful cultivation of citronella at an altitude of 1200m in the valley of Yaongyemson, Nagaland has also been reported [12]. Therefore, to study the performance of Java citronella, five cultivars were introduced in the valley of Kumaon region. In present paper, essential oil contents and profiles of C. winterianus cultivars have been examined during different seasons.

Key words: Cymbopogon winterianus, cultivars, essential oil composition, citronellal.

MATERIALS AND METHODS INTRODUCTION

Plant material

Citronella Java (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt.) is a perennial, multicut, aromatic grass of tropics and sub-tropics. The hydro-distillation of leaves yields essential oil rich in citronellal, citronellol, geraniol, citronellyl acetate and geranyl acetate [19]. Owing to high content of citronellal, this oil is used chiefly for the isolation of citronellal, which is converted into citronellol, citronellol esters, hydroxy citronellal and synthetic menthol [7]. The oil of citronella is very valuable and has wider applications in perfumery and pharmaceutical industries [8]. In India, this crop is mainly cultivated in Assam and Uttar Pradesh. The area under cultivation of citronella is about 500 hectares which producing about 80 tonnes essential

Slips of C. winterianus cultivars viz. Manjusha, Mandakini, Jalpallavi, Bio-13 and Medini [1, 10, 15] were transplanted in the month of July 2005 at CIMAP, Resource Center Purara, Uttarakhand and crops were raised following normal agricultural practices. The experimental location experiences sub temperate climate. The valleys are usually hot during summer and cold during winter. The monsoon usually breaks in June and continues to September. Samples were collected during winter (December 2006), summer (May 2007) and rainy season (August 2007) for isolation of essential oil. Essential oil isolation Isolation of oils was done immediately after harvesting the fresh biomass (100g) of each cultivar in Clevenger type apparatus for 3 hours. The oils were collected, dehydrated by anhydrous sodium sulphate and kept in a cool and dark place prior to analysis.

*Author for correspondence; E mail: [email protected] ** Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, PO CIMAP, Lucknow – 226015.

321

Gas Chromatography (GC)

compounds run under the same conditions, with those reported in literature and by peak enrichment on co-injection with authentic samples wherever possible to corroborate identities. The peak area percentage was computed from the peak areas without applying FID response factor correction.

The oil samples were subjected to GC analysis on Nucon gas chromatograph model 5765 equipped with FID using stationary phase BP-20 (coated with a carbowax 20M), fused silica capillary column (30 m x 0.25 mm x 0.25 µm film thickness). Hydrogen was used as carrier gas at the rate of 1.0 ml/min. Injector and detector temperatures were 200°C and 230°C, respectively. The oven temperature was programmed from 70°C -230°C at 4°C/minute ramp rate with initial and final hold time of 2 minutes. The injection volume was 0.02 µL neat and Split ratio was 1: 30.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The oil contents and composition of Java citronella cultivars from winter, summer and rainy seasons are presented in Tables 1-3. The essential oil content varied from 1.30% to 1.82 %, 1.30% to1.80%, 1.2% to 1.6%, 1.32% to 1.5% and 0.63% to 1.1% in cultivars Manjusha, Mandakini, Jalpallavi, Bio-13 and Medini, respectively during different season. Cultivars Manjusha, Mandakini, Jalpallavi and Bio-13 had recorded highest oil in winter and cultivar Medini in summer. Twenty-

Identification of compounds The compounds were identified by comparing the retention time and retention indices of the peak with standard Table 1.

Essential oil composition of Java citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus) cultivars during winter season from Uttarakhand hills

S. No. 1.

Compound Myrcene

RT (min) 3.46

Manjusha t

Mandakini t

Jalpallavi t

Bio-13 t

Medini -

2. 3.

Limonene

4.13

4.04

2.33

3.73

4.25

-

cis--Ocimene

5.02

-

t

-

-

-

4.

p-Cymene

5.35

-

-

t

-

-

5.

6-Methyl hept-5-en-2-one

7.22

t

-

t

t

0.15

6.

Citronellal

11.05

28.27

27.74

34.88

35.35

11.03

7.

Linalool

12.22

0.66

0.60

0.62

0.74

0.74

8.

Linalyl acetate

12.36

0.11

t

0.18

t

t

9.

-Elemene

12.54

0.28

0.52

0.39

0.41

1.26

10.

-Caryophyllene

13.09

0.16

1.05

t

0.15

-

11.

Citronellyl acetate

15.30

5.85

4.22

4.01

3.82

1.79

12.

Neral

15.40

-

t

t

-

8.12

13.

-Terpineol

15.58

0.47

0.41

0.37

0.60

-

14.

Geranyl formate

16.22

1.27

1.76

0.97

0.97

0.37

15.

Borneol

16.48

t

t

0.21

t

t

16.

Geranial

17.22

0.62

0.63

0.45

0.80

11.84

17.

-Cadinene

17.55

1.46

2.18

1.13

1.23

t

18.

Geranyl acetate

18.12

9.27

5.31

5.36

4.94

5.98

19.

Citronellol

18.42

8.31

9.80

8.67

9.56

6.73

20.

Nerol

19.20

0.29

0.30

0.32

0.50

0.35

21.

Geraniol

21.08

23.50

23.19

23.37

24.7

43.71

22.

-Caryophyllene oxide

24.15

t

0.61

-

t

0.45

23.

Unidentified

25.40

2.36

2.77

3.27

2.50

-

24.

Elemol

26.45

5.78

5.55

4.25

4.73

2.72

25.

Unidentified

28.30

0.44

0.53

0.22

0.36

0.11

26.

Unidentified

28.45

0.85

0.73

0.74

0.72

0.20

-Cadinol

30.16

1.42

2.49

1.89

1.29

-

-

1.82

1.80

1.60

1.50

0.84

27.

Oil content (%)* * Fresh wt. basis; t= trace (