Abstract

                                Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) is an important perennial aromaticplant and natural source of citral that is used in the preparations ofvariousperfumes.In the present study, eight lemongrass cultivars wereevaluated for growth, herbage, and essential oil yield during 2018-2019inthe southern region of Karnataka, India. Results revealed that significantdifferences were noticed in the growth and yield parameters of eightlemongrass cultivars studied. The plant height and the number of tillersvaries, ranging from 108.47-136.75cm and 38.13-47.60, respectively.Significantly higher herbage yield (t/ha/year) was recorded in CIM-Shikar(24.25), followed by Krishna (22.50) and CKP-25 (20.72). The lowest herbageyield wasrecorded in the Cauvery cultivar. Essential oil content varied from0.70-1.35% (v/w) and essential oil yield varies from 133.56- 302.40 kg/ha/year in different cultivars. The amount of citral varied from 2.20% to 88.14%among eight lemongrass cultivars. The varieties arranged according to thecitral content as follows, Cauvery (88.84 ± 0.99) >Nima (88.57 ± 0.70)>CIM-Shikar (84.97 ± 4.08) >OD-19 (85.90 ± 0.59) >CIM-Suvarna (82.53± 1.10) >CKP-25 (81.84 ± 0.30) >Krishna (79.26 ± 0.44) >CIM-Atal (2.15± 0.07). CIM-Atal was superior in geraniol (88.92 ± 1.00%) compared tocitral (geranial and neral) content among lemongrass cultivars studied; thiscultivar may be a partial replacement/ substitute for geraniol rich essentialoil-bearing plant in the future. Overall, cultivar CIM-Shikar was superiorto other cultivars in terms of essential oil yield (302.40 kg/ha/year) andsuperior in citral content (84.97 ± 4.08).

Key words : Citral content; Essential oil content; Herbage and oil yield; Lemongrass cultivars