Herbal Tea: Lemongrass

Last Updated: Aug. 24, 2010

Lemongrass, sometimes written lemon grass is a genus (Cymbopogon sp.) of species of grass used as an herb. Native to India, lemongrass is widely grown throughout south and southeast Asia, the middle east, and central America. Lemongrass has a strong aroma resembling lemon.

The aroma of lemongrass closely resembles that of lemon balm, a species in the mint family, lemon verbena, and lemon myrtle. While these other plants are unrelated to lemongrass, they actually contain many of the same chemical constituents, including citral, citronellol and geraniol.

Lemongrass is a very common ingredient in herbal teas and is also sometimes used in flavored teas. It is also used in cooking, especially in Thai, Vietnamese, and Malaysian cuisine.

Health Benefits:

There is significant evidence pointing to anti-cancer, antiviral, and antifungal activity of the essential oil of lemongrass. There is also some evidence of analgesic (pain-relieving) effects. However, as with many herbal teas, human studies of the health effects of lemongrass are sparse. It remains uncertain the degree to which these benefits carry through to tea drinkers.

One chemical, citral, found in lemongrass as well as lemon balm and lemon verbena, was found to induce cell death in cancer cells, leading people to consume lemongrass tea as a treatment for cancer. [1] In vitro experiments have found the essential oil of lemongrass was shown to have strong antiviral activity, both against human viruses[2] and plant viruses such as tobacco mosaic virus.[3] In vitro studies have also found significant antifungal activity.[4]

One study on rats found an infusion of lemongrass leaves to have analgesic (pain-killing) properties due to the chemical myrcene; this chemical was found to act by a mechanism different from that of aspirin-like drugs.[5]

As many of the active ingredients in lemongrass are shared in common among other lemon-scented herbs, it is likely that the health benefits of lemongrass overlap somewhat with these other herbs.

Listings of this style of tea: (7 including sub-styles - hide sub-styles)

Page 1 of 1 page with 7 results:

	Tea:	Brand:	Region:	# Ratings:
	BH65: Lemon Grass, Coarse Cut	Upton Tea Imports	Thailand	2
	Lemongrass	Rishi Tea	?????	0
	Lemon Grass	Adagio Teas	?????	0
	Lemongrass	TeaSource	?????	0
	Lemon Ginger Herbal Tea	Stash Tea	?????	0
	Lemongrass	Teatulia	Bangladesh	1
	Lemongrass	Steven Smith Teamaker	Mexico	0

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