Comparative study on changes in biochemical constituents, yield and quality of lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) grown under different soil types

ABSTRACT

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) is a perennial aromatic grass suitable for cultivation on a wide range of soils. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of lemongrass for utilizing alkaline lands and to examine the biochemical, yield and quality response of lemongrass cultivars on different soils. In this experiment, soils with different soil texture, i.e. S₁- Clay loam soil; S₂- Loamy sand soil; S₃- Sandy loam soil; S₄- Loam soil, were taken from different geographical locations. Physico-chemical properties, initial soil status of selected soil types were tested. Growth parameters, biochemical enzymes, yield and quality parameters of lemongrass varieties were determined. Post-harvest status of soils was also analyzed. Soil calcareousness and other soil characteristics like cation exchange capacity significantly impacted lemongrass varieties on biochemical properties such as proline content, lipid peroxidation, nitrate reductase activity, herb and oil yields, and constituents of essential oil. The herbage and oil yield of lemongrass significantly decreased with an upsurge in soil calcareousness. The total citral content in the essential oil was highest for the variety ‘Krishna’ (85.33%) grown in clay loam soil and lowest in ‘CIM-Shikhar’ variety (65.09%) grown in sandy loam soil. Post-harvest data of soils showed significant impact on soil ameliorating potential of lemongrass.

KEYWORDS:

• Carbonate content
• cation exchange capacity
• lemongrass
• essential oil
• malondialdehyde

Acknowledgments

The authors are highly thankful to the Director, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, India, for providing the necessary facilities. Authors also thankful to the Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, India for Junior Research Fellowship (GAP-0240). CSIR-Aroma Mission Project-Phase II (HCP-0007) also financially supported this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced this research article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Department of Science and Technology (Fellowship Registration No: IF180885) Riya Mehrotra has received Junior Research Fellowship from Department of Science and Technology (DST), New-Delhi, India.