Research, Unique Compounds and Studies
A study done in 2012 tested the effects that lemongrass has as an antibacterial property. Micro-organisms were tested with a disk diffusion method; lemongrass essential oil was added to a staph infection and the results indicated that lemongrass oil disrupted the infection and works as an antimicrobial (or bacteria killing) agent.
One study was done to test the effects that lemongrass oil has on fungal infections and yeast from Candida species. Candida is a fungal infection that can affect the skin, genitals, throat, mouth, and blood. By using disk diffusion tests, lemongrass oil was studied for its antifungal properties, and research shows that lemongrass oil has a potent in vitro activity against Candida.
This study suggests that lemongrass oil does have the power to reduce fungal infections. Early research suggests that drinking lemongrass infusion for 10 days may decrease the symptoms on thrush (a yeast infection in the mouth) in people with HIV/AIDS.
In 2009, researchers tested whether essential oil vapors, made up of lemongrass and geranium, could reduce surface and airborne levels of bacteria. The effects changed depending on the methods used; in a sealed box environment, bacteria growth on seeded plates was reduced by 38% after 20 hours of exposure to the essential oil combination.
In an office environment, an 89% reduction of airborne bacteria took place within 15 hours. This study suggests that lemongrass essential oil can be used as a method of air disinfection.
Another study tested the effects of a lemongrass infusion on rats; the infusion is made by pouring boiling water over dried lemongrass leaves. The infusion was used on the paws of rats in order to test lemongrass as a sedative. The pain-killing activity suggests that lemongrass can be used to soothe irritations on the skin.
The chemical composition of lemongrass essential oil varies according to the geographical origin; the compounds typically include hydrocarbon terpenes, alcohols, ketones, esters and mainly aldehydes. The essential consists of mainly citral.