Citronella oil is one of the industrially important essential oils obtained from different species of Cymbopogon.
The oil is widely used in perfumery, soaps, detergents, industrial polishes, cleaning compounds and other industrial products.
Citronella Oil is classified in trade into two types: Ceylon citronella oil which is extracted from Cymbopogon nardus .
The main difference between these oils is the proportion of geraniol and citronellal.
The high proportion of geraniol andcitronellal in Java type oil makes it an important source of various derivatives like citronelloland hydroxycitronellal, which are extensively, used in compounding high grade perfumes.
Citronella oil can be extracted from the leaves of the plant by steam or water distillation.
The demand for citronella oil has been affected by synthetic isolates produced from turpentine oil and the oil from Eucalyptus citriodora.
There is still a widespread preference for citronella oil because of its unique olfactory and stable technical properties, which are vital in blending perfumes and compounding industrially important essences.
