Tanglad: More than just a kitchen aromatics

 Tanglad: More than just a kitchen aromatics

We all know that citrusy grass we have on every Filipino tinola—the Tanglad. But more than being a common household aromatic, you’ll be surprised by its discrete properties and uses!

But first, what is even Tanglad? Are we even referring to the same thing?

Tanglad is known by the names Lemon grass, citronella grass, or Ginger-grass in English. Meanwhile, other than ‘tanglad’ it is also called locally as salaid in some Tagalog areas, and as barinaw by the Pangasinenses (Stuart & Santiaga, 2018). Among scientists and botanists, tanglad is known by its scientific name, Cymbopogon citratus.

Tanglad also has an interesting botanical background. It comes from a family called Poacaea which is the most important family in the world in terms of economic significance. Most of our carbs come from this family— rice, barley, wheat, oats, and corn—are all part of this family. The Poaceae family is also the fifth-largest family in terms of the number of species under it (Campbell, 2022).

This family is known for being grasses. As such, they are considered monocots (remember your high school lesson on plants?) which are known for their parallel-veined (veins are the lines you see in the leaf blade) leaves as opposed to the webbed-like arrangement in dicots. They are also known for having fibrous root systems which appear like a broom whisk with equal branching. In terms of their stem, they can be hard (i.e., woody) just like bamboo or soft and hollow in the insides (i.e., herbaceous)—a characteristic that is more common among Poacaea plants (Campbell, 2022).

Their flowers are also different as they are referred to as spikelets. Don’t fear the name as they are actually pretty common. If you have seen grass before that has a cluster of hairy spikes on its ends, that is most likely its inflorescence. This is different from dicots which have petals that are mostly broad and elaborate.

 Another interesting characteristic of the Poaceae plants is that they have been found to produce secondary metabolites, benzoxazines (Bxs) and gramine (Kokubo et al., 2017).

What are secondary metabolites, you might ask? Well, secondary metabolites can be described as residual chemicals that plants produce that does not have a direct significance to their survival and physiology but nonetheless have significance, especially in their interactions with other organisms around them (Taiz et al., 2015).

In Poacea, Bxs are used against harmful microorganisms as well as herbivores (Taiz et al., 2015; (Kokubo et al., 2017).  However, Bxs is not an antagonist-to-all chemical as it encourages good microorganisms that help plant growth like rhizobacteria to develop in the roots of some Poacea species like corn. Gramine is also a defense chemical that has been shown to protect the members of this family against aphides (Kokubo et al., 2017).  

Those are the secret mighty chemical ‘wastes’ of the family of Tanglad. But what about it specifically?

 Tanglad is surely not a disappointment to its ancestors as it has a lot of potential economic uses. One study showed that three of its chemical ‘wastes’, citral, citronellal, and myrcene, have antimalarial properties. Derivatives of citral chemicals have also been shown to have antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory activities, as well as antihypertensive properties.  Another set of metabolites (i.e., flavonoids, carotenoids, and phenolic acids) was also observed to have antioxidative potentials (Oladeji et al., 2019)

 Indeed, the ongoing studies on different applications of Tanglad are something to be excited about. As these studies continue, we shall soon see if Tanglad proves itself to be more than just a kitchen aromatics but an all-around useful plant.

Cited references

Campbell, C. (2022, August 23). Poaceae: Definition, Characteristics, Species, Classification, Uses, & Facts. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/plant/Poaceae

Kokubo, Y., Nishizaka, M., Ube, N., Yabuta, Y., Tebayashi, S.-I., Ueno, K., Taketa, S., & Ishihara, A. (2017). Distribution of the tryptophan pathway-derived defensive secondary metabolites gramine and benzoxazinones in Poaceae. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 81(3), 431–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/09168451.2016.1256758

Oladeji, O. S., Adelowo, F. E., Ayodele, D. T., & Odelade, K. A. (2019). Phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of Cymbopogon citratus: A review. Scientific African, 6, e00137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2019.e00137

Stuart, G., & Santiaga, A. (2018, September). Tanglad: Cymbopogon citratus. Stuart Exchange. http://www.stuartxchange.org/Tanglad

Taiz, L., Zeiger, E., Møller, I. M., & Murphy, A. S. (Eds.). (2015). Plant physiology and development (Sixth edition). Sinauer Associates, Inc., Publishers.