For the most part the  leaves are dried and milled ready to be used. This Australian herb is also used for essential oils which can be extracted from the leaf through steam distilling.

Where can I buy Lemon Myrtle for cooking?

BushBBQ is a Lemon Myrtle stockist and has a huge selection of Lemon Myrtle products as well as a variety of packs available online.

Buy Lemon Myrtle

How to Use Lemon Myrtle

Quick Tips to use Lemon Myrtle

History of Lemon Myrtle

Baron Ferdinand von Müller in 1853 first discovered Lemon myrtle and praised the strong, powerful aroma of it’s leaves.

Joseph H. Maiden saw the potential for commercial production in 1889, but the German company Schimmel & Co. was the first to identify the primary ingredient, citral, which gives the distinctive lemon fragrance and taste.

It was used commercially during World War 2  to flavour lemonade.  Also used in baked goods, jams and chutneys by the early settlers.  It is  an insect repellant and a wonderful inhaler for coughs and colds.

The popularity of this Australian herb started to wane after it’s use in World War 2.  Due mainly to more of the synthetic ingredients used by manufacturers because they were cheaper and more readily available.  Unfortunately  people didn’t see the health or environmental benefits of using or growing this this wonderful Australian bush herb.  But with the new age of food manufacture, many new flavours and also with the introduction of a lot more ethnic dishes that excited the culinary industry and home cooks, as a result of so much interest in new flavours Australian bush food industry started to emerge.

Lemon Myrtle started its popularity climb in about 1990

Lemon Myrtle and some of the other Australian culinary bush herbs started to show themselves as having potential not that long ago.  Considering the fact that they were used by Australia’s First Nations People for thousands of years.  The versatility of Lemon Myrtle now makes it the “go to” herb of choice for many manufacturers and distillers as does a lot of the other Australian  botanicals that are finding fame within Australia as well as worldwide.

Health Benefits of Lemon Myrtle

Lemon myrtle is high in antioxidants, vitamin E, calcium, zinc and magnesium. It also has anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties.

This Australian herb is also a powerful anti-virus with antiseptic properties that are capable of destroying disease carrying microbes.

Many herbalists have said it promotes a healthy immune system.

How did Aboriginal people use the Australian herb Lemon Myrtle?

For centuries Aboriginal people have used lemon myrtle to treat  sore throats, colds, infections and gastric upsets as well as headaches.

Recipes

Lemon myrtle shortbread

Gin with Lemon Myrtle (this is a ripper!)

Bircher Museli 

Lemon Pepper Cheese Balls

How to grow Lemon Myrtle

The plant likes a nutrient-rich soil of medium to heavy texture, and neutral instead of acidic soil; it is prone to yellowing in alkaline soils.

The soil should be well-drained and protected from the wind and frost.  It enjoys a  sunny position, especially if grown in the southern areas of Australia.

When the trees are young they are frost and drought tender, so need a lot of protection, also make sure that they don’t dry out, remember they are a sub-tropical plant.  Once established they are pretty hardy.

How to dry Lemon Myrtle

Lemon myrtle leaves can be cut from the tree year round.

The leaves contain the highest amount of citral (>90%) of any plant known in the world, it is ‘lemonier than lemon’.

Due to the high volatility of the citral component, the leaves must be dried quickly – ideally within one hour of harvest – to prevent them heating up and deteriorating. To prevent any loss of essential oils set the dryer at less than 45C.  If you don’t have a dehydrator just put them in a warm spot and leave to dry.  They can then be used in teas and or any culinary use that needs a good, robust lemon flavour.

How to store Lemon Myrtle

Once you’ve dried the leaves, or have bought the dried leaves of this amazing Australian bush herb.  Storage is important.  Store in a cool, dry environment.  In the right conditions their flavour and aroma can remain pungent for as long as 2 years.  Tests have found that they can also go beyond that.  It’s important that they aren’t stored where there is a lot of heat or sunlight as both the flavour and aroma with weaken.

Is Lemon Myrtle good for your skin?

Lemon myrtle has some amazing properties to keep your skin looking healthy.  There are many products now available commercially that incorporate this fantastic bush herb.

The many uses of Lemon Myrtle

The essential oil is used as an ingredient in cosmetics and personal care items such as soaps, creams, toothpaste and shampoo and conditioners. Lemon myrtle has also been used for many years as a therapeutic aromatherapy product for oil burners or as a misting spray.

Lemon myrtle has antimicrobial and antifungal properties that are superior to those of the popular tea tree oil.

As a result, it has potential as a natural food preservative; as an antiseptic, surface disinfectant; and in the biological control of post-harvest diseases in fruits and vegetables.