Lemongrass : antidote to common cold

Last month I had this feeling that I am about to have cough and cold.  I did not want to take any strong allopathy medicine so I picked up a few leaves of lemongrass from my kitchen garden, crushed them and boiled these along with the tea leaves.  Took this concoction in the evening and next morning I was almost well.  Lemongrass sure is a magical plant.

 
Lemongrass is also known as 'fever grass' and has been used for centuries for treating fever in India. Also used as food seasoning in Africa, India and the Seychelles, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Its main constituent, citrol, has strong cleansing, antiseptic qualities and is used for deodorizing footwear and clothing.
Lemon grass is a long thick grass with leaves at the top and a solid portion several inches long at the root end. The lower portion is sliced or pounded and used in cooking. As a spice, fresh lemon grass is preferred for its vibrant flavor, but is also sold in dried form. The dried spice is available in several forms: chopped in slices, cut and sifted, powdered, or as oil can be extracted from the plant.

Lemon grass is a perennial, aromatic, tall grass with rhizomes and densely tufted fibrous roots.  The blades of the grass are about 90 cms long and 0.5 cm wide. Lemon grass contains an essential oil. This oil is sherry colored with a pungent taste and lemon-like odor with citral as the principal constituent. The contents of this oil vary with the age of the grass. Fresh lemon grass contains an essential oil, which has substantial amount of citral. Dry herb yields 0.4 per cent essential oil containing 72.3 per cent citral.

Lemongrass belongs to grass family poaceae. It is a tall perennial grass that is grown in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. Lemongrass also known as Citronella Grass or Fever Grass is a tall perennial grass belonging to the Africa and Old Eurasian countries. It is a widely used herb in Asian (particularly Thai, Lao, Khmer and Vietnamese and Caribbean) cooking. The grass has a lemony flavor.

The botanical name of Lemon Grass is Cymbopogan and it belongs to the family of Poaceae.  Its leaves are used and it originated in Africa-Eurasia.

Lemon grass oil, used as a pesticide and preservative, is put on the ancient palm-leaf manuscripts found in India as a preservative. It is used at the Oriental Research Institute Mysore, the French Institute of Pondicherry, the Association for the Preservation of the Saint Thomas Christian Heritage in Kerala, and many other manuscript collections in India. The lemon grass oil also injects natural fluidity into the brittle palm leaves, and the hydrophobic nature of the oil keeps the manuscripts dry so that the text is not lost to decay due to humidity.

Lemon grass is used in addition to tea, as an antidote to coughs, colds, etc. It has medicinal properties and is used extensively in Ayurveda.  It has powerful pain relieving properties.  It helps in the muscle spasms by relaxing the muscles thereby leading to the reduction of pain related symptoms.  Another benefit of this grass is for improvement in the blood circulation.  As an antifungal and antibacterial lemongrass inhibits bacteria and yeast growth.  Some sources suggest that lemongrass has anti depressant properties and is thus beneficial for nervous and stress related conditions.

There are many different uses for lemongrass. Some people use it to relieve nausea, the common cold, and even high blood pressure. In artificial lemon flavoring, lemongrass is commonly used.

Lemon grass is a very scented herb to add to a bath.  It makes your bed well scented when put under a pillow.

Lemon grass has not just medicinal but culinary uses too.  It is widely used in Asian cuisine in soups, curries, poultry, seafood and beef.  In some cuisines lemon grass powder is used as a taste enhancer.