ABSTRACT

The experiment was designed to determine the effect of two different solvent (N-hexane and petroleum ether) on chemical composition of lemongrass oil. The oil was extracted from lemongrass using N-hexane and petroleum ether using soxhlet extraction method. The chemical composition of essential oil obtained were analyse using GC-MS machine. The result shows 4.4% of oil were obtained from lemongrass using N-hexane and 4.9% were obtained using petroleum ether. The composition analysed by GC-MS Machine were 16.52% of Trimethyl [4-(2-methyl-4-oxo-2pentyl)] phenoxysilane, 4.15% acetamide, 6.54% hexamethyl, 6.58% silane and 2, 4, 6-cycloheptatrien-1-one with peak area of 8.67% in both solvent. But the chemical constituent present in lemongrass is higher using petroleum ether compared to that of N-hexane.This indicated that petroleum ether is much better in oil extraction and analyizing chemical constituents of lemongrass.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0    INTRODUCTION

Lemongrass (Cymbogoncitratus) is a plant from the grass family which contained about 1-2% essential oil in a dry weight base. The essential oil is characterized by a high content of citral constituted with the isomers neral and geranial, which is used as a raw material for the production of iodine, vitamin A and b-carotene (Dhobi et al., 2010).

The essential oil of lemongrass is important in perfumery industry since it blends well with a great variety of essential oil (Carlson et al., 2001). The tea made from lemongrass leaves is used as antispasmodic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory antiphretic, diuretic and sedative (Carlini et al., 1986). Lemongrass is a perential sedge throwing up dense fascilles of leaves from a short rhizome (Baser et al., 2010). The culm is south, erect up to 8 meter high. Leaves are long glaucous, green, having a strong flavor used as a herb for seasoning and insect repellent (Musa et al., 2013). It’s a plant, looking much like a very tall patch of grass that doesn’t often produce flower (Burt, 2004). At the base of each group of leaves there is a fat stalk, similar to a spring onion bulb. The overall plant is made up of big cluster of these individual stalk used for most cooking purposes, but the rest of the leaves can be used as well (Christina et al., 2010). Not only is the tea very zesty in flavor it can also help settle upset stomachs and ease cough. The oils in lemongrass have a number of homeopathies health uses. Though most home growers do not extract the essential oil, from their plant but mostly used as a flavoring (Wani et al., 2008).