Scientific name: Cymbopogon nardus

Family: Poaceae

Brief history and botanical notes on the plant
Lemongrass is an evergreen perennial herbaceous plant that comes from southern Asia. It forms dense, extremely erect tufts, which can reach heights of 70-100 centimeters during the vegetative period.
The leaves of lemongrass are rather thick and drooping and have a typical bright green color.
The leaves and stems of this plant have the particular characteristic of giving off a strong, slightly citrus scent, which intensifies when you rub the leaves between your fingers.
It is a plant that is widely cultivated in the Asian continent, given that the oil extracted is often used in oriental medicine, as well as being particularly appreciated for keeping mosquitoes away during the summer season.
Lemongrass leaves can also be used in the kitchen, for flavoring salads, herbal teas and drinks.
We can find more than ten species of lemongrass and most have extremely aromatic leaves.

Variety
There are around fifty species of the citronella genus throughout the world: those used for the production of lemongrass essence are mainly two, namely Cymbopogon Nardus and Cymbopogon Winterianus.
In the first case, it is a species also called Ceylon Citronella and is used for the extraction of essential oils.
We are talking about a species that is used above all for the production of lemongrass essence, but which is considered much less valuable compared to Java or winterianus lemongrass, given that its essential oil content is much less significant.
Ceylon lemongrass is not used in cooking, as its flavor is not pleasant.
As regards the Winterianus citronella, also better known by the name of Java Citronella, it is used for the extraction of essential oils and can certainly boast a higher quantity of essential oils than the Nardus species, in addition to the fact of being commercially widespread a all over the world.

Exposure
Lemongrass plants are grown in a sunny or partially shaded location; These plants also have the particular characteristic of being considerably afraid of the cold and harsh winters and are usually grown as annual plants or, alternatively, kept in pots, in such a way as to be able to shelter them during the colder months. of the year.
Frequently during the autumn season it is customary to cut the tuft of leaves close to the ground, in order to keep it as compact as possible during the following year.
Lemongrass plants must be placed in places sheltered from the wind and sunny, since they really can't stand the harsh temperatures of winter, but they still manage to re-sprout when spring arrives.

Watering
As regards watering operations, it is necessary to underline that this plant must be watered regularly, approximately every 2-3 weeks, wetting the soil deeply.
It is also important to pay close attention to avoiding the formation of water stagnation.

Property
Lemongrass is particularly widespread as is the lemon aroma which has the advantage of keeping away annoying insects such as mosquitoes, especially during the summer season.
It is an aroma that represents the distillate obtained from various tropical species of lemongrass and, in particular, from the Nardus and Winterianus varieties, from which the actual essence of lemongrass is obtained.
Furthermore, from the leaves and stems of these two species of citronella, it is possible to extract an essence which has a strong lemon aroma and is made up mainly of citronellol and geraniol and it is not possible to find another plant in which these two components are present in such quantities.

Anti-cancer properties
In 2006, a research team from Ben Gurion University in Israel discovered that lemongrass of the Cymbopogon citratus species causes apoptosis (programmed cell death) of cancer cells. With in vitro studies, the researchers examined the effect of citral, a molecule found in lemongrass, on normal and cancerous cells. Using a concentration of citral equivalent to the amount of one cup of tea (one gram of lemongrass in hot water), the researchers observed that citral induced programmed death in cancer cells, while normal cells remained unscathed.

Biodynamics
During periods in which temperatures rise, especially coinciding with the beginning of spring, it is important to practice preventive treatments using sulfur horn and silica horn which prevent the attack of harmful insects and fungal attacks.