Cymbopogon schoenanthus (L.) Spreng. (Poaceae/Graminae)

Abstract

It is a typical desert species (grass), containing aromatic oil which persists in the leaves for many years. The plant is found in South Asia and North Africa and grows in hard lands and usually grows in the company of other plants. It is found in all regions, including parts of Al-Rubb-al-Khali desert of Saudi Arabia, and is locally known as Ethkher , Eskhabar or Hashma. Ethkher from Hijaz (a region in west Saudi Arabia) is called Hurmi and is described as the 2nd best by Ishaq bin Imran, and the one that grows in coastal Africa as the worst. Dymock et al., however, mentioned Andropogon laniger as the species called Izkhir or Ethkher . Dioscorides described that the best kind grows in Arabia, that has an odor like roses when rubbed between the hands, and a pungent taste. Arabian and Persian authors identify Ethkher or Idkhir as Schoenus of the Greeks and Romans, as hot and dry, lithotriptic, diuretic, carminative and emmenagogue. They recommend it to be boiled in wine as a diuretic. Ground into a paste it is said to be a good application for abdominal swellings. Added to purgatives, it is administered in rheumatism; the flowers are used as hemostatic. Hippocrates mentioned the emmenagogue property in the treatise on the diseases of women. Phytochemical screening of the plant shows the presence of alkaloids and/or nitrogen bases, flavonoids, sterols and/or triterpenes, tannins and volatile oils. Daily oral administration of C. schoenanthus extract produced significant diuretic activity and prevented glycolic acid-induced nephrotoxicity, and kidney stone formation in rats. Daily oral dose of ethanol extract to ICR mice for 2-weeks resulted in a significant antistress effect, with a significant decrease in serum corticosterone and increase in cerebral cortex levels of DA and NE.