Lemon Grass

Lemongrass, commonly known as tanglad, is popular among barrio folks who put the leaves in rice being cooked to enhance the aroma and flavor of the staple. It has also been used somewhat like tea to remove the free radicals from the body or even to cool up the body during scorching summers.

Not too many people know that tanglad has a huge demand in Japan–which has developed lemon grass extensively as aromatherapy oil for all kinds of applications.

"We only have one distilling plant to extract the lemon grass oil and this is being done by a family in the Cordilleras. What Japan needs is an equivalent to the output of three distilling plants," said Edito Guevarra, president of eSearch Information and Resource Center Inc., an NGO that has been popularizing alternative crops and technologies in the countryside to ensure that farmers augment their incomes and become gainfully employed.

Lemongrass belongs to the family graminacea (Gramineae). It is dark yellowish, watery, aromatic, viscose and straw-like green leaves, which if partly dried or distilled by steam can yield 0.3 to 0.5 percent essential aromatherapy oil.

Though extraction of lemon grass oil has been largely a backyard or cottage industry undertaking, the Bugalods of Kalinga, through their company the Gold In Grass Corp. (GIGC) developed the distilling technology to efficiently extract the oil, said Belen Abalos, who has been at the frontline for eSearch in promoting this crop to several other places in the Cordilleras to ensure the sustainability of the industry and help the country be a net exporter of this essential oil to Japan. Abalos is introducing lemon grass and sweet potato in farm clusters in Luna Apayao after succeeding in bringing it to Lasam Cagayan.

"We have much to gain in commercializing this grass to ensure that investors who would put their money into distilling plants will have the raw materials to achieve the capacities needed by Japan and other markets," Abalos said.

Among the known therapeutic properties of lemongrass are as astringent, tonic, calmative, antiseptic, anti-infectious, diuretic, digestive, anti parasitic, depurative and nervine. These properties are due to its chemical composition of: citral, n-decyclic aldehyde, Dipentene, Farucsol, Neral, Citronella, Geranial, Limonene. Thus, it is good for insect deterrent and for Indian medicine and even Indian and other Asian cuisine. The essential oil is used in perfumery and citrus-type soaps.

Lemongrass blends well with Basil, bergamot, black pepper, cedarwood, clary sage, coriander, cypress, fennel, geranium, ginger, grapefruit, lavender, lemon, marjoram, orange, patchouli, palmarosa, rosemary, tea tree, thyme, linalool, vetiver and ylang ylang.

During the distillation process, the oil and water in lemongrass separate and the scented water (condensed steam from distilling) called "hydrolat or hydrosol" in France, is often mixed with alcoholic drinks like gin.

For homes, lemongrass is used as wash for mouth, hands face, foot and body; for enhancing coffee, tea and fruit juice and for cooking particularly to enhance the flavor of fish, crab, lobster, shrimp shell and meat like chicken and pork with its lemony and ginger flavor without the sharp sour and pungent taste.

Abalos said researches showed that massaging with lemongrass essential oil for general body treatment produces the following effects: improved blood circulation at the head and body extremities; relief from nervousness, stress and tension; body toxins including phlegm and expelled thru sweating and urine; soothing tired muscles and ligaments; prevention and suppression of skin and scalp infections (pimples, acne, dandruff, superficial cuts and wounds); prevention of new wrinkles when applied nightly and regularly; improved quality of sleep for the elderly and those with insomnia when applied nightly and feeling of general body wellness.

eSearch wants to start a lemongrass essential oils livelihood program in Kalinga to augment the production of GIGC so the country can start exporting the oil sooner than later.

Abalos said GIGC now produces 32 finished products from the lemongrass essential oils — from shampoos to soaps and detergents and other products. Four of these products were selected by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) to join the World Aichi Expo in Japan in 2005.