Lemon grass: composition and useful properties

Lemon grass, or sorghum - a rather popular plant among culinary experts, which is used in the process of preparing many dishes and drinks. In addition, this product has some medicinal properties, so it is widely used in pharmacology and traditional medicine.

Lemon grass: composition and calorie content

In fact, no one knows exactly where they started to grow this plant - in India or Malaysia. Nevertheless, over the past hundreds of years, this product has been an indispensable component in the eastern kitchen.

Of course, lemongrass can be attributed to dietary products, since its caloric value is only 99 kcal per 100 g. In addition, the plant has a very useful composition - it is rich in B vitamins, it also contains beta-carotene and ascorbic acid. It is worth paying attention to the content of minerals - there are potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, copper, manganese, zinc, selenium and iron. And thanks to antioxidants, this herb is considered one of the most popular "products of youth." That is why it is widely used in cooking and medicine.

Lemon Grass in Cooking

Light citrus aroma with a weak shade of almonds and taste of lemon peel - this is the lemon grass. You can buy it both fresh and dried.

In modern cooking, this product is very popular due to its property to change and emphasize the taste of the prepared dish. For example, in India lemon sorghum is added to rice and other side dishes, as well as soups, meat dishes (veal, chicken, pork) and seafood. Quite often, this herb is added to different drinks - it gives them freshness and a delicate citrus flavor.

By the way, the leaves of the plant are very hard, so they are finely cut or mixed into a thick paste.

Lemon grass in medicine: useful properties

In fact, this product began to be used as a medicine several centuries ago. But the popularity of such treatment has not diminished to the present day. As already mentioned, lemon grass saturates the body with vitamins, minerals, unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants.

But in the eastern countries it is used to treat infectious diseases. Lemongrass normalizes the work of the immune system, helps to defeat the infection. In addition, this herb has stimulating and toning properties. Some admirers of alternative medicine prepare from it an antiseptic.

This product is also used in the UK. Here it is recommended to add to the dishes in order to normalize the digestive tract, to ease stomach pain and cope with flatulence. In addition, experts recommend the regular use of sorghum (in moderate amounts, of course) in order to get rid of the symptoms of fatigue, improve memory, and increase the concentration and combat insomnia.

By the way, lemon grass is also used to relieve headaches. To prepare the medicine, take a few drops of lemongrass essential oil, which is bred in any base oil (sunflower, olive), the mixture is massaged with whiskey.

The juice of grass is used to protect against mosquitoes. They just have to rub open areas of the skin - and you are protected from insects. In some cultures, lemon grass is considered a magical plant - it is planted around the house in order to scare off snakes and unclean force.