Lemongrass essential oil is composed of citral which comes in two isomers, neral(Z) and geranial(E). The effect that different extraction methods and concentration of citral have on the ratio Z/E are the main focus of the research. The more solvent there is the larger the ratio of E/Z. The different extraction methods examined were steam distillation and solvent soaks in the windowsill, fume hood, and the refrigerator. GC/MS analysis suggests that the more energy that is put into an extraction the larger the Z/E ratio will be. The keto-enol tautomerization increases as the energy in the extraction increases, allowing the isomers to interconvert. Since citral is bioactive, selective extraction of one isomer over the other could be very beneficial to medicinal chemistry.

Effects of extraction methods and concentrations on the different ratios of neral to geranial in lemongrass essential oils

251st National Meeting (2016)

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