Lemongrass Essential Oil: Benefits, Uses, Dilution & Safety

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Crush a stalk of fresh lemongrass between your fingers and a bright, lemony scent rises from the torn leaves. That scent is citral, and lemongrass essential oil holds it in concentrated form.81 Cooks use the leaf in teas, soups and curries, and traditional healers have long used it for pain, fevers and upset stomachs.9

Today the oil has a research record of its own, from mouth rinses and scalp tonics to the scent breathed in during a dental visit.1034

Lemongrass is one of the 20 essential oils I trust most in my field guide, Top 50 Healing Herbs & Essential Oils, where I rank its best uses in this order: fungal infections, muscle aches, insect repellent, inflammation, and stress and mood.5

Did you know?

• A shampoo made with 2% lemongrass oil still killed the yeast linked to dandruff after 6 weeks of storage, both at room temperature and at 113°F.11

• In lab tests, lemongrass oil was more active against Candida yeast as a vapor than as a liquid.8

• In one study from eastern Nepal, lemongrass leaf oil was 89.2% citral, while oil from palmarosa, a related grass, was 76.6% geraniol, a different compound.12

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What is lemongrass oil?

Citral is a pair of closely related compounds, geranial and neral. In one oil from Algeria, geranial made up 42.2% and neral 31.5%,8 and three C. flexuosus cultivars grown in the same place ranged from 54.75% to 79.82% citral.14 Smaller amounts of geraniol and geranyl acetate round out the oil.1

The leaf and the oil are different products. Fresh lemongrass is a food: by weight, 100 grams of the raw leaf carries 723 mg of potassium and 5.22 mg of manganese.15 Brewed as a tea, it's a gentle traditional remedy, and in Brazil healthy volunteers who drank it once or daily for 2 weeks showed no harmful changes in blood tests, brain waves or heart tracings; a few had slight rises in two blood values that caused no symptoms.16 The oil is the leaf's aromatic part, distilled until it's 50 to 100 times as concentrated as the herb itself,5 so it carries the citral without the leaf's minerals. That concentration is why you use the oil by the drop and always dilute it on your skin.

A short history of lemongrass

Traditional healers across Asia, Africa and the Americas have used lemongrass leaf as a tea and a medicine: to relax spasms and ease pain, for rheumatism, as an antiseptic, and for nervous and stomach complaints and fevers.919

Chinese medicine reads the herb by its energetics. In my field guide, I describe lemongrass as cooling, pungent and lemony, working on digestion and the lungs, and best for heat, achy muscles and sluggish digestion; cooling plants suit people who run hot, with inflammation, irritability or flushing.5 Modern trials have tested the oil on several of those same jobs, from inflamed tissue to yeast and frayed nerves.104

What is lemongrass oil good for?

How lemongrass oil works in your body

Here's what's happening when lemongrass oil meets yeast, step by step, and what it means for your scalp and skin:

Lab work points to a second job, calming inflammation signals. In human skin cells primed for inflammation, lemongrass oil lowered several markers of inflammation and tissue remodeling, in a lab study run by an essential-oil company's scientists.27 Citral switched off NF-κB, a central switch for the body's inflammatory signals, in mouse immune cells.28 In mice, 5 or 10 microliters of the oil applied to the ear cut chemically triggered swelling by 62.5% and 75%, in groups of four, while a diclofenac gel, a common anti-inflammatory drug, cut it 56.25%; and by mouth, 10 mg per kilogram eased paw swelling about as well as 50 mg per kilogram of diclofenac.8 Those findings fit the cooling, soothing role the herb has held in traditional medicine.95

Lemongrass oil benefits, ranked by evidence

Ranked by evidence, lemongrass oil does the most for your gums and breath, with encouraging results for the scalp and skin, calm and the mosquito season, and a long tradition for aching muscles and joints.

Where lemongrass oil has gone head to head with a standard treatment, it has held its own in most of the trials:

Is lemongrass oil good for your gums?

The lead trial comes from a dental college in India. After a professional cleaning, 60 adults aged 25 to 45 with mild to moderate gingivitis kept brushing twice a day and were randomly assigned to swish for a minute twice a day with a 0.25% lemongrass oil rinse made in the college's pharmacology department, a 0.2% chlorhexidine rinse, or no rinse at all, 20 in each group. Plaque fell 35.57% with lemongrass, 35.24% with chlorhexidine and 24.31% with cleaning alone. Lemongrass beat cleaning alone on both gum inflammation and plaque, and it worked as well as chlorhexidine, the standard medicated rinse.2

The same rinse has done well in other mouths. In a randomized trial of 60 people wearing braces who had mild to moderate gingivitis, the lemongrass rinse group had lower plaque scores by day 14 and lower gum scores by day 21 than the chlorhexidine group.22 In a 3-month randomized trial from the same research team as the gingivitis study, 45 adults with severe periodontitis, gum disease that has opened pockets around the teeth, were split into three groups of 15. In the 15 who used the rinse after a cleaning, pockets went from 5.12 to 4.46 mm deep, against 5.11 to 5.03 mm with cleaning alone, and the gum's lost attachment to the teeth shrank from 5.31 to 4.75 mm, results similar to those with a 0.12% chlorhexidine rinse.23

Lemongrass also works as a gel placed right into those pockets. In a 3-month randomized trial of 40 adults with periodontitis, in which neither the patients nor the researchers knew who got which gel, a 2% lemongrass gel placed after a deep cleaning brought pockets from 5.30 to 3.25 mm deep, and a 10% doxycycline antibiotic gel brought them from 5.35 to 3.15 mm, so the two gels did about equally well. The lemongrass gel also cut counts of Porphyromonas gingivalis, a bacterium tied to gum disease, by about three-quarters.17

A lemongrass rinse has freshened breath, too. In a randomized trial of 20 healthy volunteers, in which neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew who got the lemongrass rinse or a placebo rinse, the lemongrass rinse lowered the sulfur gases behind bad breath by day 8, and the volunteers found it acceptable, though they asked for less spice in the flavor.24 A 2024 review of the human research found that lemongrass rinses and gels performed comparably to chlorhexidine and doxycycline in these mouth trials.10

To bring this home, choose a ready-made mouthwash that lists lemongrass oil, swish it for a minute and spit it out, and keep brushing twice a day, as the people in the rinse trials did. Don't put drops of the oil straight into your mouth. For more ways to care for your gums and breath, see how to get rid of bad breath, oil pulling with coconut oil and clove oil.

Does lemongrass oil help dandruff and skin fungus?

Dandruff is tied to Malassezia, a yeast that lives on the scalp, and lemongrass oil killed Malassezia furfur in lab tests.11 In Thailand, researchers made hair tonics with 5%, 10% or 15% lemongrass oil and tested them in a randomized trial of 30 adults aged 20 to 60 with dandruff. Each person used a lemongrass tonic on one side of the scalp and a tonic without the oil on the other, twice a day, and neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew which side got which. With the 5%, 10% and 15% tonics, dandruff fell 33%, 75% and 51% by day 7 and 52%, 81% and 74% by day 14, so the 10% tonic worked best.3 That tonic was a finished product made at 10%; at home, keep scalp blends to the 1% limit in the safety section. See how to get rid of dandruff and essential oils for hair for more scalp care.

Tinea versicolor is a yeast infection of the skin that leaves patches of lighter or darker skin. In a 40-day randomized trial of 76 people with tinea versicolor in Brazil, the lemongrass group used a cream twice a day and a shampoo three times a week, both made with lemongrass oil at about 0.125%. Of the 47 people assigned to lemongrass, 30 finished, and 60% of them were cleared of the fungus on lab tests, while over 80% of the 18 people who finished on the trial's ketoconazole cream and shampoo were cleared. Before the trial began, the lemongrass products were tested on 20 healthy volunteers, and none had a significant side effect.18

For other natural options for fungus on the skin, see how to get rid of fungal acne, athlete's foot and this homemade antifungal cream. For yeast overgrowth inside the body, see the Candida Cleanse protocol.

Can lemongrass oil ease anxiety and stress?

The dental trial ran in Iran. Forty adults having scaling and root planing, a deep cleaning below the gumline, were randomly assigned to a gauze pad near the nose moistened with diluted lemongrass oil (4 drops of oil in 100 mL of water) or with plain distilled water, and 38 were analyzed. Because of the smell, people could tell which pad they had. Anxiety, measured on a standard questionnaire before the cleaning and again in its last third, fell 6.9 points with lemongrass and rose 2.4 points with water, a gap unlikely to be chance.

Blood pressure and pulse moved the same way: systolic blood pressure dipped 1.4 mmHg with lemongrass and rose 4.6 with water, diastolic pressure dipped 0.8 and rose 4.3, and pulse fell about 5 beats a minute and rose about 3. Pain during the cleaning, oxygen levels and satisfaction were about the same in both groups. Everyone was patch-tested first, and no side effects were reported.4

A Brazilian study of 40 healthy men, split into four groups, tested the scent on its own. Right before a stressful color-word test given on camera, the men breathed in 3 or 6 drops of lemongrass oil, 3 drops of tea tree oil or 3 drops of water. Changes in heart rate and muscle tension during the test showed up in every group, but both lemongrass groups felt less anxious and tense right after breathing it in, and they recovered fully from the test's anxiety within 5 minutes, unlike the other groups.25

When a stressful appointment or a tense afternoon is coming, diffuse 3 to 4 drops, the amount my field guide gives, and start a few minutes ahead, since the volunteers felt calmer right after breathing it in.525 For more calming scents, see essential oils for anxiety, and for more on the practice itself, aromatherapy and natural remedies for anxiety.

Does lemongrass oil keep mosquitoes away?

In lab tests on a bird's skin, a 1% lemongrass oil solution and 15% lemongrass creams kept at least half of yellow fever mosquitoes from biting for 2 to 3 hours, comparable to a commercial repellent.20 In the Burkina Faso field test, volunteers wore lemongrass oil at 0.5% to 2.5% on their legs from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., and every strength cut bites sharply; at 2.5%, the researchers judged protection comparable to a 30% DEET repellent.21 Oils from several lemongrass-family grasses protected completely against mosquito bites for 4 hours in lab and field tests in India.31 A 2026 review of 19 human repellent studies found that plant-oil repellents, lemongrass among them, usually protect completely for 2 to 4 hours.32

I suggest adding 5 drops of lemongrass oil to water and spraying it on to keep mosquitoes away.6 Use about 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) of water for those 5 drops. One drop is about 0.05 mL and an ounce is about 30 mL, so the spray stays under the 1% limit for skin. Shake the bottle before every spray, since the oil floats, mist it over exposed skin, and keep it away from your eyes and face. Find more recipes in homemade bug spray and help for bites in home remedies for mosquito bites.

Can lemongrass oil soothe sore muscles and joints?

I recommend lemongrass for muscle aches and cramps,6 and on my show, I've called it one of the best oils to use on a regular basis for your joints.33

In the massage study, at a clinic in Indonesia, 38 older adults with rheumatoid arthritis pain had foot massages with lemongrass oil, with no comparison group. Before, 24 of them rated their pain as moderate; afterward, 25 reported no pain at all.26

Rub the 1% blend from the quick answer above into the sore spot, and pair it with work from the inside.5 My Anti-Inflammatory Reset starts by taking away the fuel for inflammation: sugar, sweet drinks, fried food, seed oils, processed meat and alcohol, along with seven to eight hours of sleep.34 From there, build your plate from anti-inflammatory foods, and see muscle recovery, collagen for joints and essential oils for arthritis for more support.

How to use lemongrass oil

Diffuse 3 to 4 drops, or dilute lemongrass oil to 1% for your skin, about 1 drop per teaspoon of carrier oil.5 Healthy adults can also take a drop or two by mouth in a spoonful of raw honey, a smoothie or soup.6

To diffuse it, add 3 to 4 drops to your diffuser and run it 30 to 60 minutes at a time, with breaks, in a ventilated room. Your nose adapts quickly, so the breaks keep the benefit.5 On your skin, dilute it to 1%; the safety section explains why and how to patch test first.

Can you take lemongrass oil internally?

Yes, in small amounts, if you're a healthy adult. In Ancient Remedies I wrote, "It's safe to ingest a drop or two."6 In the same book, I explain that oils from commonly eaten herbs, spices, roots and berries are safe to take by mouth at 1 or 2 drops,6 and lemongrass is a kitchen herb that goes into teas, soups and curries.9 The FDA lists lemongrass oil among the essential oils generally recognized as safe as food flavorings.13 Not every oil works this way: on my show, I've named eucalyptus, birch and wintergreen as oils not to take internally, while oils like ginger, peppermint and lemon can be taken in small doses.7

• 1 or 2 drops of a pure, single-ingredient oil labeled with its Latin name.6

• In raw honey, a smoothie or soup, never plain water: oils don't dissolve in water, and undiluted drops can irritate your mouth and throat.

• Occasional and short-term, adults only.

• Stop at any dizziness, nausea or mouth irritation.6

On my show, I've shared that I make a lemongrass soup with coconut milk and add a few drops of the oil,35 and a drop or two also suits a recipe like this Secret Cucumber Detox Soup. Those are the same limits that apply to taking frankincense oil by mouth; the safety section covers pregnancy, nursing and children. As I've written, "If you experience any side effects, like dizziness or nausea, when using an oil, stop using it immediately."6

In mice, 21 days of the oil by mouth at up to 100 mg per kilogram of body weight a day showed no signs of harm to organs, blood or DNA, though no human trial has tested swallowing the oil yet.36 Per pound of body weight, that top dose is far more than a drop or two, which weighs about 60 milligrams.6

How to buy and store lemongrass oil

Lemongrass oil comes from two species, and related grasses make different oils, so start with the label:

• The Latin name: The label should name Cymbopogon citratus or Cymbopogon flexuosus, the two species the FDA lists for lemongrass oil.13

• Pure and single-ingredient: The bottle should hold 100% lemongrass oil, certified organic when you can find it, with no added fragrance or perfume oil.65

• A batch test report: Buy from a seller who can show what's in the oil, since its citral content shifts from plant to plant.14

• A dark glass bottle: Choose one with the country of origin on the label.5

As I've written, "Synthetic oils are worthless at best and unhealthy at worst."6 Store the bottle cool, dark and tightly closed; most oils other than citrus keep 2 to 3 years. An oil that smells off has oxidized and can irritate your skin, so toss it.5 Citronella oil and palmarosa oil come from related grasses and are different oils, so check the Latin name before you buy.12

Lemongrass oil side effects & who should be careful

I list lemongrass as a skin irritant in Top 50 Healing Herbs & Essential Oils and cap it at 1% on the skin, about 1 drop per teaspoon of carrier oil, or 6 drops per ounce.5 Use a carrier such as jojoba, fractionated coconut, sweet almond or olive oil. Before wider use, patch test: apply your diluted blend to the inside of your forearm and wait 24 hours, and if you see redness or itching, skip the oil.5 Never put lemongrass oil on your skin undiluted, and keep it off broken skin and away from your eyes. For more on safe dilution with other oils, see essential oil safety.

The reason for the care is citral, a known skin sensitizer that can trigger an allergic rash, and the allergen researchers name, along with geraniol, in reactions to lemongrass oil.3738 At a network of European skin clinics that patch tested 10,930 patients for essential-oil allergy from 2010 to 2019, 2.6% of the patients tested with lemongrass oil reacted to it, the second-highest rate of the 12 oils tested, after ylang ylang. These were people already being seen for skin problems, and massage therapists and cosmeticians were among the groups who reacted most often.39 If you've reacted to fragrances or other essential oils before, take the patch test seriously, and stop at the first sign of a rash. Contact dermatitis covers rashes like these.

Avoid lemongrass in pregnancy; that's the caution I give it in my field guide.5 In rats given citral by mouth during pregnancy, pregnancy losses rose slightly even at the lowest dose tested, 60 mg per kilogram a day, and higher doses slowed growth in the womb.40 No human safety data exist for the oil in pregnancy, so skip it in every form while you're pregnant, and skip it while nursing, too.5

On my show, I've said that strongly antimicrobial oils like oregano, and to a degree lemongrass, don't need to be used on children.7 Don't put lemongrass oil on children or give it to them by mouth, and keep the bottle locked away.5 If you take it by mouth yourself, follow the limits in the internal-use section above.

The bottom line

Lemongrass oil: frequently asked questions

References

1. Mukarram M, Choudhary S, Khan MA, Poltronieri P, Khan MMA, Ali J, et al. Lemongrass Essential Oil Components with Antimicrobial and Anticancer Activities. Antioxidants (Basel). 2021;11(1):20. doi:10.3390/antiox11010020
2. Dany SS, Mohanty P, Tangade P, Rajput P, Batra M. Efficacy of 0.25% Lemongrass Oil Mouthwash: A Three Arm Prospective Parallel Clinical Study. J Clin Diagn Res. 2015;9(10):ZC13-7. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2015/14465.6581
3. Chaisripipat W, Lourith N, Kanlayavattanakul M. Anti-dandruff Hair Tonic Containing Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) Oil. Forsch Komplementmed. 2015;22(4):226-9. doi:10.1159/000432407
4. Maybodi FR, Herandi V, Vaezpour MS. Effect of aromatherapy with lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) on the anxiety of patients undergoing scaling and root planning: a randomized clinical trial. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2025;25(1):100. doi:10.1186/s12906-025-04834-w
5. Axe J. Top 50 Healing Herbs & Essential Oils: A Field Guide to God's Pharmacy (Vol. 05, The Natural Pharmacy, 2026 edition). DrAxe.com protocol; 2026 (introduction, the 20 essential oils he trusts most; "How to use this guide," warming and cooling key; "Essential oil safety & dilution," p. 39; "Safety & interactions"; Oil 19, Lemongrass, p. 49; "Build your home apothecary" buying and storage notes).
6. Axe J. Ancient Remedies: Secrets to Healing with Herbs, Essential Oils, CBD, and the Most Powerful Natural Medicine in History. Little, Brown Spark (Hachette Book Group); 2021 (chapter "The Power of Essential Oils": oils from commonly consumed herbs, spices, roots and berries taken by mouth at 1 or 2 drops, about 60 milligrams, the stop rule for dizziness or nausea and "Synthetic oils are worthless at best and unhealthy at worst," p. 146; the Lemongrass entry, p. 155).
7. Axe J. Dangers of Essential Oils: Top 10 Essential Oil Mistakes to Avoid | Dr. Josh Axe. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2017 (oils not to take internally and oils fine in small doses, at 2:14-2:40; oils for children, lemongrass named, at 7:10-7:43; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vuLggcLDLg&t=430s).
8. Boukhatem MN, Ferhat MA, Kameli A, Saidi F, Kebir HT. Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil as a potent anti-inflammatory and antifungal drugs. Libyan J Med. 2014;9(1):25431. doi:10.3402/ljm.v9.25431
9. Shah G, Shri R, Panchal V, Sharma N, Singh B, Mann AS. Scientific basis for the therapeutic use of Cymbopogon citratus, stapf (Lemon grass). J Adv Pharm Technol Res. 2011;2(1):3-8. doi:10.4103/2231-4040.79796
10. Kusuma IY, Perdana MI, Vágvölgyi C, Csupor D, Takó M. Exploring the Clinical Applications of Lemongrass Essential Oil: A Scoping Review. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2024;17(2):159. doi:10.3390/ph17020159
11. Wuthi-Udomlert M, Chotipatoomwan P, Panyadee S, Gritsanapan W. Inhibitory effect of formulated lemongrass shampoo on Malassezia furfur: a yeast associated with dandruff. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2011;42(2):363-9.
12. Dangol S, Poudel DK, Ojha PK, Maharjan S, Poudel A, Satyal R, et al. Essential Oil Composition Analysis of Cymbopogon Species from Eastern Nepal by GC-MS and Chiral GC-MS, and Antimicrobial Activity of Some Major Compounds. Molecules. 2023;28(2):543. doi:10.3390/molecules28020543
13. US Food and Drug Administration. 21 CFR 182.20, Essential oils, oleoresins (solvent-free), and natural extractives (including distillates) that are generally recognized as safe (lists "Lemon grass, Cymbopogon citratus DC. and Cymbopogon lexuosus Stapf"). Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Accessed October 7, 2026.
14. Raghuvanshi N, Gupta B, Joshi V, Bisht SS, Manikpuri M, Shukla K, et al. Influence of Essential Oil Composition on Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Three Cultivars of Cymbopogon Flexuosus: In Vitro and In Silico Study. Chem Biodivers. 2025;22(1):e202400966. doi:10.1002/cbdv.202400966
15. US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Lemon grass (citronella), raw. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 168573 (NDB 11972); values read from the FDC portal record on October 7, 2026 (100 g: potassium 723 mg, manganese 5.22 mg, iron 8.17 mg, folate 75 µg, vitamin A 0 µg RAE).
16. Leite JR, Seabra Mde L, Maluf E, Assolant K, Suchecki D, Tufik S, et al. Pharmacology of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf). III. Assessment of eventual toxic, hypnotic and anxiolytic effects on humans. J Ethnopharmacol. 1986;17(1):75-83. doi:10.1016/0378-8741(86)90074-7
17. Mittal P, Gokhale ST, Manjunath S, Al-Qahtani SM, Magbol MA, Nagate RR, et al. Comparative Evaluation of Locally Administered 2% Gel Fabricated from Lemongrass Polymer and 10% Doxycycline Hyclate Gel as an Adjunct to Scaling and Root Planing in the Treatment of Chronic Periodontitis-A Randomized Controlled Trial. Polymers (Basel). 2022;14(14):2766. doi:10.3390/polym14142766
18. Carmo ES, Pereira Fde O, Cavalcante NM, Gayoso CW, Lima Ede O. Treatment of pityriasis versicolor with topical application of essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf - therapeutic pilot study. An Bras Dermatol. 2013;88(3):381-5. doi:10.1590/abd1806-4841.20131800
19. Avoseh O, Oyedeji O, Rungqu P, Nkeh-Chungag B, Oyedeji A. Cymbopogon species; ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and the pharmacological importance. Molecules. 2015;20(5):7438-53. doi:10.3390/molecules20057438
20. Oyedele AO, Gbolade AA, Sosan MB, Adewoyin FB, Soyelu OL, Orafidiya OO. Formulation of an effective mosquito-repellent topical product from lemongrass oil. Phytomedicine. 2002;9(3):259-62. doi:10.1078/0944-7113-00120
21. Konaté H, Namountougou M, Amara MF, Balboné M, Gnissi S, Kouadio KWU, et al. Cymbopogon citratus and Lippia multiflora essential oils as alternative repellent to DEET against Anopheles gambiae s.l. in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Sci Rep. 2025;15(1):42457. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-26462-7
22. Wasey F, Tantray S, Ahluwalia R, Khan MS. Comparative Evaluation of 0.25% Lemongrass Oil Mouthwash and 0.2% Chlorhexidine Mouthwash in Fixed Orthodontic Patients Suffering from Gingivitis. J Contemp Dent Pract. 2023;24(6):396-402. doi:10.5005/jp-journals-10024-3516
23. Subha DS, Pradeep T. Periodontal Therapy with 0.25%Lemongrass Oil Mouthwash in Reducing Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases: A 3-Arm Prospective Parallel Experimental Study. Ethiop J Health Sci. 2017;27(5):531-540. doi:10.4314/ejhs.v27i5.12
24. Satthanakul P, Taweechaisupapong S, Paphangkorakit J, Pesee M, Timabut P, Khunkitti W. Antimicrobial effect of lemongrass oil against oral malodour micro-organisms and the pilot study of safety and efficacy of lemongrass mouthrinse on oral malodour. J Appl Microbiol. 2015;118(1):11-7. doi:10.1111/jam.12667
25. Goes TC, Ursulino FR, Almeida-Souza TH, Alves PB, Teixeira-Silva F. Effect of Lemongrass Aroma on Experimental Anxiety in Humans. J Altern Complement Med. 2015;21(12):766-73. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0099
26. Aisyah S, Uliyah M, Ulfaiza M. The Effect of Foot Massage Using Lemongrass Oil on Reducing the Intensity of Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain in the Elderly at the Aisyiyah Clinic, Ambulu Sub-district, Jember Regency. In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference of Health Innovation and Technology (ICHIT 2022). Atlantis Press; 2023:148-158. doi:10.2991/978-94-6463-202-6_18
27. Han X, Parker TL. Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) essential oil demonstrated anti-inflammatory effect in pre-inflamed human dermal fibroblasts. Biochim Open. 2017;4:107-111. doi:10.1016/j.biopen.2017.03.004
28. Lee HJ, Jeong HS, Kim DJ, Noh YH, Yuk DY, Hong JT. Inhibitory effect of citral on NO production by suppression of iNOS expression and NF-kappa B activation in RAW264.7 cells. Arch Pharm Res. 2008;31(3):342-9. doi:10.1007/s12272-001-1162-0
29. Leite MC, Bezerra AP, de Sousa JP, Guerra FQ, Lima Ede O. Evaluation of Antifungal Activity and Mechanism of Action of Citral against Candida albicans. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014;2014:378280. doi:10.1155/2014/378280
30. Silva Cde B, Guterres SS, Weisheimer V, Schapoval EE. Antifungal activity of the lemongrass oil and citral against Candida spp. Braz J Infect Dis. 2008;12(1):63-6. doi:10.1590/s1413-86702008000100014
31. Tyagi BK, Shahi AK, Kaul BL. Evaluation of repellent activities of Cymbopogon essential oils against mosquito vectors of Malaria, Filariasis and Dengue Fever in India. Phytomedicine. 1998;5(4):324-9. doi:10.1016/S0944-7113(98)80073-1
32. Faridah L, Nurhakim RA, Astuti RRUNW, Melanie, Rohmawaty E, Rachmawati Y, et al. Effectiveness of mosquito repellents for human: A systematic review of human-based studies. Acta Trop. 2026;280:108182. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2026.108182 (corrigendum: Acta Trop. 2026;280:108206)
33. Axe J. 10 Keys to Relieve Pain and Inflammation. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2017 (lemongrass oil at 15:10-15:28; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFMOBT_ucW8&t=910s).
34. Axe J. Anti-Inflammatory Reset: 30-day protocol. DrAxe.com. 2026.
35. Axe J. 8 Keys to Heal Hypothyroidism. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2017 (lemongrass soup with lemongrass oil and coconut milk at 19:55-20:22; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5r5JQCNuGM&t=1195s).
36. Costa CA, Bidinotto LT, Takahira RK, Salvadori DM, Barbisan LF, Costa M. Cholesterol reduction and lack of genotoxic or toxic effects in mice after repeated 21-day oral intake of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil. Food Chem Toxicol. 2011;49(9):2268-72. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2011.06.025
37. Lalko J, Api AM. Citral: identifying a threshold for induction of dermal sensitization. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2008;52(1):62-73. doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2008.01.006
38. de Groot A, Schmidt E. Essential Oils, Part V: Peppermint Oil, Lavender Oil, and Lemongrass Oil. Dermatitis. 2016;27(6):325-332. doi:10.1097/DER.0000000000000218
39. Geier J, Schubert S, Reich K, Skudlik C, Ballmer-Weber B, Brehler R, et al. Contact sensitization to essential oils: IVDK data of the years 2010-2019. Contact Dermatitis. 2022;87(1):71-80. doi:10.1111/cod.14126
40. Nogueira AC, Carvalho RR, Souza CA, Chahoud I, Paumgartten FJ. Study on the embryofeto-toxicity of citral in the rat. Toxicology. 1995;96(2):105-13. doi:10.1016/0300-483x(94)02915-h

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

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