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刘岱琳教授团队——香茅的民族药理学、化学成分及应用

花匠小妙招
2026-05-15 11:08

Du X, Zhang M, Wang S, et al. Ethnopharmacology, chemical composition and functions of Cymbopogon citratus [J]. Chin Herb Med, 2024, 16(3): 358-374.

香茅的民族药理学、化学成分及应用

禾本科香茅属多年生植物香茅Cymbopogon citratus(DC.) 广泛分布于亚洲热带及亚热带地区,在南非等国家及我国南部等省份均有种植。

香茅，也被称为柠檬草，作为一种传统中药常用于中医药，用于传统中医药。香茅最早记载于中国唐代（公元618—907年）的陈臧器（687—757）的《本草拾遗》，现收录于《中药大辞典》。香茅性温，味辛、甘，归肺、胃、脾经。香茅具有祛风通络、温中止痛、利湿止泻的功效。常用于治疗外感风寒头痛、头风头痛、风湿痹痛、脘腹冷痛、泄泻、水肿、脚气及跌打损伤。现有研究表明，香茅的主要化学成分为萜类、黄酮类、酚酸类和多糖类，具有抗菌、神经保护、降糖、抗炎等药理活性。香茅通常用于治疗发烧、糖尿病和高血压。香茅具有药用价值，被用作调味料或茶叶替代品；香茅在日用化学品方面也有应用，经常用于制造肥皂和漱口水。本文通过查阅国内外文献，对其民族药理学、化学成分、药理学、食品、临床及日用化学应用等方面进行综述，为进一步研究其药食同源性提供依据。

1 民族药理学

在中国和其他地方，香茅作为食品和药品用于治疗疾病有着悠久的历史。在巴西、古巴和印度，香茅经常被冲泡成茶来降低血压。在印度传统的治疗体系阿育吠陀中，柠檬草精油可以治疗高血压、发烧、胃病以及与风湿病、感冒和流感相关的炎症。此外，香茅提取物和煎剂具有多种治疗作用，如抗炎、止咳、消化、抗流感、解热、抗糖尿病和抗疟疾。在热带和亚热带国家，香茅叶的浸提物广泛用于调节血糖、血脂和脂肪血水平，以预防糖尿病、高血压和肥胖。在中国，有许多关于香茅的民间记载。香茅最早记载于公元741年出版的《本草拾遗》一书中，性温，味辛、甘，归肺、胃、脾经。具有疏风通络、温中止痛功效，临床常用于治疗感冒头疼、发热、腹痛、糖尿病、高血压、癫痫及焦虑等症。《岭南采药录》记载，香茅水煎剂用于治疗头痛，通过洗头、祛风、洗身消肿和避免腥味；将香茅和大米炒熟后加水治疗水样腹泻；使用香茅精油可缓解腹痛。《四川中药志》提到，用500克香茅水煎液沐浴可以治疗由风寒湿引起的全身疼痛。香茅在《广东中药》、《贵州中药》、《全国中草药汇编》中均有记载，并已被《中华本草》收录。

2 化学成分

香茅的化学成分已被广泛研究，包括挥发油、类黄酮、酚酸、苯丙素、醇、酯、醛和生物碱。挥发油是香茅的主要成分，包括单萜、倍半萜和较少的二萜和三萜。经鉴定的活性单萜类化合物为橙花醛、香叶醛、香叶醇、香茅醛和香茅醇。目前，已报道的香茅化学成分有158种，其中分离鉴定的成分有105种，48种化学成分通过GC-MS方法分析得到，具有一定的参考价值。

3 药理作用

香茅的治疗作用在许多民间古籍中均有记载。《广东中医》中记载“治头晕，头风，风痰，鹤膝症；煎水饮可以止心痛”，这与其抗炎镇痛作用相关。《贵州民间药物》也提到，香茅茶煎水服可以缓解胃痛。在当代药理学研究中也发现了香茅的其他生物学功能，包括抗菌、神经保护、抗糖尿病、抗氧化、自由基清除、抗肿瘤和免疫调节作用（图1）。

图1香茅的现代药理作用

4 应用

香茅在食品、临床及日化方面均有广泛应用，如图2所示。香茅在国内外具有广泛的食品应用。因其独特的芳香，在日常生活中香茅经常被用作调味剂、茶饮等。新鲜的香茅茎叶可用于去除肉类菜肴中的腥味，加工成粉的香茅常添加于沙拉酱、火锅酱中用来补充味道，去除食物的腥味。香茅精油作为食品添加剂，主要用于蛋糕、蜂蜜、奶茶中调味。在泰国、马来西亚、越南、巴西、印度等国家，香茅已经开发成一种降血压的健康茶。同样，中国许多香茅的产地也经常将香茅制成茶饮，具有通胃、醒脑的作用。此外，香茅还可以作为天然抗菌剂用于食品保鲜。香茅精油对各种霉菌引起的蔬菜和水果腐烂有明显的抑制作用。香茅作为一种药食同源药，不仅在食品中应用广泛，临床应用更是历史悠久。外用可治疗小儿发热、花斑糠疹，口服或静脉注射可治疗艾滋病患者的鹅口疮。此外，香茅在临床上还用于治疗癫痫、焦虑、糖尿病、过敏、风湿病、关节炎和其他疾病。除了食用和药用价值外，香茅还因其独特的香气和特性被广泛用于护肤品、护发素、漱口水和杀虫剂中。

图2香茅在食品、临床和日常化学品中的应用

5 总结与展望

香茅首次被记载于唐代（公元618-907年）的《本草拾遗》中，是一种药食同源药，具有祛风通络、温中止痛、止泻的功效。化学成分研究表明，香茅含有萜类、类黄酮、酚酸和其他活性成分。现代药理学研究表明，香茅具有多种生物活性作用，包括抗菌、神经保护、降压、降血糖、降血脂、抗炎、抗氧化、抗肿瘤等，可用于治疗小儿发热、高血压、胃病及糖尿病，具有良好的开发潜力。香茅因其芳香的气味，经常被用作食品的调味品。在化学行业，香茅经常被用于生产肥皂、洗涤剂、香水、护肤品、护发剂和漱口水。本文虽然对香茅的现有研究及其部分药效学物质基础和药理作用机制进行了阐述，但其作用机制和药效学的基础研究仍然不足，需要进一步研究以促进香茅的开发和应用。

Ethnopharmacology, chemical composition and functions of Cymbopogon citratus

Xiqin Du a,b,1, Meng Zhang a,b,1, Shuping Wang c, Jingyang Li d, Jingze Zhang a,b,*, Dailin Liu a,b,*

The perennial herb Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf in the gramineous family is found throughout tropical and subtropical Asia and is cultivated in South Africa, other nations, and the southern provinces of China. The whole herb of C. citratus can be used as a traditional Chinese medicine called citronella, also known as lemongrass (LG), used in traditional Chinese medicine. LG, first recorded in the Supplement to Materia Medica by Chen Zangqi (687-757) during the Tang Dynasty of China under the original name XiangMao in Chinese, has now been included in the Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine. LG is warm, pungent, and sweet, and belongs to the lung, stomach and spleen meridians. LG has the effects of expelling wind unblocking collaterals, warming, and relieving pain, dampness, and diarrhea. It often treats exogenous wind-cold headaches, rheumatic arthralgia, epigastric cold pain, diarrhea, edema, beriberi, and traumatic injuries. Existing research has demonstrated that the main chemical components of LG are terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and polysaccharides, which have antibacterial, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and other pharmacological activities. LG is commonly used to treat fever, diabetes, and hypertension. LG has medicinal value and is used as a seasoning or tea substitute for food. LG also has applications in daily chemicals and is often used to make soap, mouthwash. This study reviewed the ethnopharmacology, chemical composition, pharmacology, food, and clinical and daily chemical applications of LG by consulting recent literature to provide a basis for subsequent studies on the homology of medicine and food in LG.

1 Ethnopharmacology

LG has a long history of use as a seasoning in food and medicine to treat diseases in China and elsewhere. LG is frequently brewed into tea to decrease blood pressure in Brazil, Cuba, and India. In Ayurveda, India's traditional treatment system, lemongrass essential oil (LGEO) treats hypertension, fever, stomach disease, and inflammation related to rheumatism, colds and flu. In addition, the LG leaf extract and decoction have various therapeutic effects, such as anti-inflammatory, cough-relieving, digestive, antiinfluenza, antipyretic, anti-diabetes and antimalarial. In tropical and subtropical countries, LG leaf infusion is widely used to regulate blood sugar, lipid, and fatty blood levels to prevent diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. In China, there are many folk records of the LG. LG, first recorded in the book Supplement to Materia Medica published in 741 A.D., has a warm, brilliant, and sweet taste. It disperses wind, clears collaterals, warms the middle, and relieves pain. It is commonly used to treat cold headaches, fever, abdominal pain, diabetes, hypertension, epilepsy, and anxiety. The Lingnan Medication Collection recorded that LG water decoction was used to treat headaches by washing the head, dispelling wind, reducing swelling by washing the body and avoiding fishy odors. The decoction was obtained by stir-frying LG and rice and then adding water to treat watery diarrhea. The abdominal pain was relieved using LGEO. The Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine Chronicle reported that bathing with 500 g LG of a water decoction could treat systemic pain caused by wind, cold, and dampness. LG also has been recorded in Guangdong Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guizhou Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the National Compilation of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and has now been included in the Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

2 Chemical composition

LG has been extensively studied for its chemical components, including volatile oils, flavonoids, phenolic acids, phenylpropanoids, alcohols, esters, aldehydes, and alkaloids. Volatile oils are a major component of LG, including monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, and fewer diterpenes and triterpenes. The active monoterpenes identified were neral, geranial, geraniol, citronellal, and citronellol. At present, 153 chemical constituents of LG have been reported, of which 103 have been isolated and identified, and 50 have been analyzed by GC-MS.

3 Pharmacology

The effectiveness of LG has been documented in several books. According to Guangdong Traditional Chinese Medicine, LG can treat dizziness and phlegm caused by wind, and its water decoction has been used to treat heartache after drinking, owing to its anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. The Guizhou Folk Medicine also mentions that LG water decoction can alleviate stomach aches, which affect the digestive tract. Other biological functions of LG has also been found in contemporary pharmacological studies, including antibacterial, neuroprotective, anti-diabetes, antioxidant, free radical scavenging, anti-tumor, and immunomodulatory effects (Fig. 1).

4 Applications

Citronella is widely used in food, clinical products and daily chemicals, as shown in Fig. 2. Citronella is widely used in food both at home and abroad. Because of its unique aroma taste, citronella is often used as a flavoring agent, tea drink and so on in daily life. Fresh citronella stems and leaves are used to remove the fishy smell of meat dishes. Citronella processed into powder is often added to salad dressing and hot pot sauce to supplement the flavor and remove the fishy smell of food. As a food additive, citronella essential oil is mainly used for seasoning in cakes, honey and milk tea. In Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, India and other countries, citronella has been developed as a healthy tea to lower blood pressure. Similarly, many provinces in China often make citronella into tea drinks, which has the function of stomach opening and brain awakening. In addition, citronella can also be used as a natural antibacterial agent for food preservation. Citronella essential oil significantly inhibited the decay of vegetables and fruits caused by various molds. As a kind of medicine and food homology, citronella is not only widely used in food, but also has a long history of clinical application. It can be used to treat pediatric fever, pityriasis, or oral or intravenous injections to treat thrush in AIDS patients. In addition, citronella is also used clinically in the treatment of epilepsy, anxiety, diabetes, allergies, rheumatism, arthritis and other diseases. In addition to its edible and medicinal value, citronella is widely used in skin care products, conditioners, mouthwashes and pesticides for its unique aroma and properties.

5 Summary and Prospect

As a drug and food homologous medicine, LG was first recorded in the Supplement to Materia Medica with the effects of expelling wind and unblocking collaterals, warming and relieving pain, and dampness and diarrhea during the Tang Dynasty. Phytochemical studies have revealed that LG contains terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and other active components. Modern pharmacological studies have shown many bioactive effects and good development potential, including antibacterial, neuroprotective, hypotensive, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, and other effects for the treatment of pediatric fever, hypertension, stomach disorders, and diabetes. LG is often used as a condiment in food because of its aromatic odor. In the chemical industry, LG is often used to make soaps, detergents, perfumes, skincare products, hair tonics, and mouthwashes. Although the existing research on LG and some of its pharmacodynamic material basis and pharmacological action mechanisms have been elaborated, basic research on action mechanisms and pharmacodynamics is still insufficient and needs further study to facilitate the development and application of LG.