Short communication GC–MS evaluation of Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf oil obtained using modified hydrodistillation and microwave extraction methods E.O. Ajayi a , A.P. Sadimenko a , A.J. Afolayan b,⇑ a Department of Chemistry, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa b MPED Research Centre, Department of Botany, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa article info Article history: Received 29 September 2014 Received in revised form 13 January 2016 Accepted 18 April 2016 Available online 20 April 2016 Chemical compounds studied in this article: m-Toluamide (PubChem CID: 69253) p-Cymene (PubChem CID: 7463) Trans-citral (PubChem CID: 638011) Cis-citral (PubChem CID: 643779) 2,3-Epoxy-geranylacetate (PubChem CID: 536453) Geranyl butanoate (PubChem CID: 5355856) 2-Undecanone (PubChem CID: 8163) 2-Methylbenzoxazole (PubChem CID: 7225) Tricontane (PubChem CID: 12535) 2-Octanone (PubChem CID: 8093) 1,3,8-p-Menthatriene (PubChem CID: 176983) Keywords: Essential oil Cymbopogon citratus Modified hydrodistillation Solvent free microwave extraction abstract Bioactive compounds of Cymbopogon citratus essential oil, using different media have been tentatively identified with the aid of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Hydrodistillation was com- plemented using weakly acidic and alkaline media for the oil extraction. Solvent-free microwave extrac- tion (SFME) was also used. Analyses of the oils revealed the presence of 7, 16, 22, and 15 compounds in the water-distilled (WD), microwave-distilled (MD), acid-distilled (AD), and base-distilled (BD), essential oils, respectively. Total yield of the volatile fractions was 0.73%, 0.64%, 0.70%, and 0.45%, respectively. Citral was found to be the major component, the base extraction having the highest content. This was followed by 2-isopropenyl-5-methylhex-4-enal, p-cymene, and 2-thujene. The antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antioxidant activities and assessment of medicinal/nutritional uses of the essential oils are subjects of future studies. Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Cymbopogon citratus, Stapf (Lemon grass) is a widely used as herb in tropical countries. It is common for human consumption or as cooking ingredients. Due to its aromatic and lemon scented property, lemongrass is commonly incorporated in Asian cooking. The essential oil of C. citratus is used in food processes as food fla- voring, perfume, and cosmetic industries. It is a plant from the grass family and contains about 1–2% essential oil in a dry mass. It possesses strong lemony odor due to high content of citral, which has two geometric isomers, geranial and neral (Shahi et al., 2005). Both isomers occur together. Citral is used as a raw material for the production of ionone, vitamin A, and b-carotene. In addition to citral, the essential oil consists of small quantities of geraniol, geranyl acetate, and monoterpene olefins, such as limo- nene and myrcene. The essential oil of lemongrass is used in per- fumery since it easily blends well with a variety of essential oils. The tea made from lemongrass leaves is used as antispasmodic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic, diuretic, and sedative. Studies on extracts from C. citratus leaves have demonstrated antioxidant, antimicrobial and antifungal activities (Matasyoh, Wagara, Nakavuma, & Kibural, 2011; Oloyede, 2009; Pereira, Puntel, Boschetti, & Morel, 2009). Lemongrass powder on supple- mentation was found to improve digestibilities of nutrients, rumen microbial population, and microbial protein synthesis efficiency in http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.04.071 0308-8146/Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: aafolayan@ufh.ac.za (A.J. Afolayan). Food Chemistry 209 (2016) 262–266 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Chemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem