Lemon Myrtle (Backhousia Citriodora)

If there is one native Australian herb that belongs in every serious kitchen, it is lemon myrtle. Known botanically as Backhousia citriodora, lemon myrtle grows in the subtropical rainforests of Queensland and northern New South Wales — and it produces one of the most intense, clean citrus aromas found anywhere in the plant world. Sharper than lemon zest, more complex than lemongrass, and entirely its own — lemon myrtle is the citrus powerhouse of Australian native ingredients. At Terrablendz, we source and dry lemon myrtle to preserve every layer of its remarkable flavour, making it available to home cooks and professional kitchens right across Australia.

What Is Lemon Myrtle?

Lemon myrtle is a tall rainforest tree native to Australia, prized for its glossy leaves, which are packed with essential oils dominated by citral — the compound responsible for that sharp, clean lemon character. Unlike imported citrus herbs, lemon myrtle is 100% Australian in origin and carries a flavour intensity that has made it one of the most sought-after native herbs in the country.

The dried and ground form of the leaf is what most cooks work with. The leaves are harvested, carefully dried to lock in their essential oils, then gently ground into a fine herb or coarser flake depending on the application. What remains is an extraordinarily aromatic ingredient with a shelf life that outlasts fresh citrus and a flavour that performs across a huge range of cooking styles.

Lemon myrtle has seen rapid growth in Australian native food culture. Chefs across the country have moved it firmly into professional kitchens, and home cooks are discovering how easily it replaces lemon zest, lemongrass, and even kaffir lime leaves in many recipes. For a deeper look at how lemon myrtle is used across different cooking applications, visit our guide to lemon myrtle uses.

• Native to subtropical Queensland and northern NSW rainforests
• Highest natural citral content of any known plant
• Available dried, ground, or as whole leaf flakes
• Used in savoury cooking, baking, beverages, and seasoning blends
• A cornerstone ingredient of modern Australian native cuisine

The Flavour Profile of Lemon Myrtle

Lemon myrtle's flavour is best described as aggressively citrus — but with a warmth and depth that sets it apart from anything you can squeeze from a fruit. The immediate impression is a sharp, clean lemon hit, followed almost instantly by a floral, slightly sweet undertone that rounds out the citrus edge. There is no bitterness and no sourness — just a bright, layered citrus character that is uniquely its own.

The science behind this comes down to citral content. Lemon myrtle contains up to 90–98% citral in its essential oil — a concentration far beyond that of lemon peel (around 2–5%), lemongrass (65–85%), or kaffir lime leaves (under 10%). This means dried lemon myrtle delivers a more precise, consistent, and concentrated citrus punch than any of its alternatives.

In practical cooking terms, this translates to a herb that commands respect in small quantities. A quarter of a teaspoon in a marinade is enough to define the entire dish. Used in a rub or seasoning blend, it carries through the heat of the grill and emerges on the other side as a fragrant, citrus-forward finish. For a detailed exploration of its taste characteristics, see our dedicated piece on lemon myrtle's flavour profile.

• Top note: Sharp, intense lemon — clean and immediate
• Mid note: Floral and faintly sweet, like lemon verbena
• Base note: Warm, slightly herbaceous finish
• Heat performance: Holds flavour well through cooking — excellent for grilling and roasting
• Raw performance: Exceptional in dressings, yoghurt, and cold infusions

Best Uses for Lemon Myrtle in Cooking

Lemon myrtle's versatility is one of its most compelling traits. Very few herbs move as comfortably between a seafood marinade, a biscuit dough, a cocktail syrup, and a dry BBQ rub. It performs consistently across heat levels and integrates cleanly with a wide range of flavour profiles.

Understanding where it excels will help you get the most out of every batch. The key is restraint — start with less than you think you need, taste as you go, and build from there. Once you understand its concentration, incorporating it becomes second nature.

Here are the best uses for lemon myrtle across different cooking categories:

Best Uses for Lemon Myrtle in Savoury Cooking

• Seafood rubs and marinades — Lemon myrtle and barramundi, prawns, or salmon is a natural pairing. The citrus notes amplify the natural sweetness of fresh seafood without overpowering it.
• Poultry seasoning — Mixed into a dry rub with salt, garlic, and native pepper, lemon myrtle brings brightness to roast chicken or grilled turkey breast.
• Pasta and risotto — A pinch stirred through a cream-based pasta or risotto at the end of cooking adds an unexpected citrus lift that cuts through richness.
• Salad dressings — Combined with olive oil, honey, and white wine vinegar, it makes a dressing that works on everything from leafy greens to grain salads.
• Soups and broths — Particularly well-suited to light chicken or vegetable broths where a citrus note complements rather than dominates.

Best Uses for Lemon Myrtle in BBQ and Grilling

• Dry rubs — Blended with smoked paprika, sea salt, and garlic flakes, lemon myrtle creates a citrus-forward rub that performs brilliantly on pork ribs, chicken wings, and fish fillets on the grill.
• Butter baste — Melted into a compound butter with herbs and applied to grilling meats or corn, it adds a citrus baste that caramelises beautifully.
• Smoke pairing — Lemon myrtle pairs exceptionally well with light woods like apple or cherry for smoking, adding a citrus counterpoint to sweet smoke.

Best Uses for Lemon Myrtle in Baking and Sweet Applications

• Shortbread and biscuits — A teaspoon in shortbread dough replaces the need for lemon zest entirely.
• Cheesecakes and tarts — Infused into cream cheese or baked into a lemon tart filling, it produces a more complex flavour than citrus juice alone.
• Glazes and icings — Dissolved into a sugar glaze or whipped into buttercream for a fragrant citrus finish.
• Herbal teas and syrups — Steeped in hot water or used to make a simple syrup for cocktails and mocktails.

How to Use Dried Lemon Myrtle — A Practical Guide

Using dried lemon myrtle well is about understanding its concentration and learning to match it to each dish. Unlike fresh herbs where you can be generous, dried lemon myrtle demands precision — and rewards it with a depth of flavour that is hard to replicate.

Start with these benchmarks and adjust based on your preference:

• Marinades and rubs: ½ teaspoon per 500g of protein — increase to 1 teaspoon for a more assertive flavour.
• Soups and sauces: ¼ teaspoon per litre of liquid, added in the final 10 minutes to preserve aroma.
• Baked goods: 1 teaspoon per standard batch of biscuits or a standard loaf cake.
• Dressings: ¼ teaspoon whisked into 60ml of dressing — taste and adjust before adding more.
• Beverages: ½ teaspoon steeped in boiling water for 5 minutes, strained, and served with honey.

A key principle: add dried lemon myrtle early in dry applications (rubs, spice blends) and late in wet applications (soups, sauces, dressings) for the best flavour result. Heat will bloom the aroma in dry applications, while late addition preserves the volatile citrus oils in liquid dishes.

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The Health Benefits of Lemon Myrtle

Beyond its extraordinary flavour, lemon myrtle has attracted genuine interest for its natural properties. The essential oils in lemon myrtle — dominated by citral — have been studied for their antimicrobial and antifungal characteristics. This makes it more than a culinary ingredient; it is an herb with genuine functional depth.

While we always recommend cooking with lemon myrtle for flavour first, understanding its broader properties adds another dimension to its appeal as a native Australian herb worth keeping in your pantry.

• High citral content with documented antimicrobial properties
• Natural antioxidants that support general wellbeing
• Anti-inflammatory compounds found in the essential oil
• Naturally caffeine-free when used as a tea or infusion
• A rich source of vitamin C relative to other dried herbs

For a thorough review of what the research says, our post covering the health benefits of lemon myrtle goes into detail on the functional compounds and what they mean for everyday cooking and wellness.

Why Choose Australian Native Ingredients?

There is a growing movement in Australian cooking to look closer to home when building flavour. Native ingredients like lemon myrtle, saltbush, wattleseed, and mountain pepper have evolved over millennia in Australian soils and climates — and the flavours they produce are genuinely unlike anything grown elsewhere in the world.

Choosing native Australian ingredients is also a statement about quality, provenance, and sustainability. When you use lemon myrtle sourced from Australian farms, you are supporting growers who work with the land rather than against it, and you are bringing a flavour to your table that tells a uniquely Australian story.

From a culinary standpoint, native herbs and seasonings offer complexity that imported alternatives simply cannot match. Lemon myrtle alone demonstrates this — no imported citrus herb comes close to the flavour intensity or aromatic depth it delivers. It is the kind of ingredient that makes you rethink what citrus means in cooking.

• Grown in Australian soils and climates — unique flavour profiles unavailable elsewhere
• Supports local Australian growers and sustainable agricultural practices
• Longer shelf life than fresh citrus — less waste, more convenience
• Consistent quality and flavour from batch to batch when sourced responsibly
• Elevates Australian cuisine to its rightful place in global food culture

At Terrablendz, every native herb and seasoning blend is built around this philosophy. You can explore the full range of native herb content on our Terrablendz Insights hub.

Lemon Myrtle and the Native Herb, BBQ Rub, and Seasoning Industry

The Australian native ingredients industry has grown significantly over the past decade — and lemon myrtle sits at the centre of that growth. In the BBQ rub and seasoning category in particular, lemon myrtle has become a defining ingredient for producers looking to differentiate from imported spice blends and create something authentically Australian.

For consumers, native herb seasonings represent a move toward provenance-led purchasing — knowing where your ingredients come from and why that matters. Lemon myrtle-based rubs perform outstandingly on the grill, where heat intensifies the citrus and the herb's aromatics bloom into the meat or vegetables. The result is a flavour profile that is bold, clean, and entirely distinct from anything a standard imported spice blend can produce.

If you are exploring how lemon myrtle fits into broader native Australian seasoning styles, our article on lemon pepper seasoning with a native Australian twist shows how lemon myrtle works alongside other native herbs to create a contemporary seasoning experience.

• Increasingly prominent in the Australian native food industry
• Used by leading chefs and artisan producers across the country
• A key differentiator in the premium BBQ rub and seasoning category
• Growing export interest from international markets seeking authentic Australian flavours

From Leaf to Table: How Lemon Myrtle Is Processed

The quality of dried lemon myrtle depends almost entirely on how it is harvested and processed. Leaves need to be harvested at the right stage of maturity — too early and the citral content is lower; too late and the flavour becomes less precise. After harvest, the leaves are dried at low temperatures to preserve the volatile essential oils that carry the flavour.

The drying process is critical. High heat destroys citral quickly, leaving behind a duller, less aromatic product. Slow, low-temperature drying — whether ambient air drying or controlled dehydration — retains the oil profile that makes lemon myrtle so distinctive. The dried leaf is then ground or broken into flakes depending on the intended use.

At Terrablendz, this process is taken seriously. The dried lemon myrtle we offer is sourced from Australian farms committed to quality harvest and processing standards — ensuring what arrives in your kitchen is as close to the living plant as a dried product can be.

• Harvested at peak leaf maturity for maximum citral content
• Low-temperature dried to preserve volatile essential oils
• Ground or flaked depending on culinary application
• Packaged to protect aroma and extend shelf life

Supporting Posts — Further Reading

This pillar post is supported by a series of in-depth articles covering every dimension of lemon myrtle. Each piece goes deeper on a specific topic — from flavour science to health research — and is designed to complement what you have read here.

• Lemon Pepper Seasoning: A Native Australian Twist on a Kitchen Classic
• Lemon Myrtle Uses: How to Cook with Australia's Citrus Herb
• Lemon Myrtle Flavour: What Makes It Unique and How to Use It
• The Benefits of Lemon Myrtle: What the Research Shows
• Discover Lemon Myrtle Benefits: A Deeper Look at Australia's Native Citrus Herb

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion: Australia's Finest Citrus Herb

Lemon myrtle is not just a novelty native ingredient — it is one of the most flavour-dense, versatile herbs available to Australian cooks. Its extraordinary citral content, its adaptability across cooking styles, and its clean, layered flavour profile place it firmly among the essential ingredients for any serious kitchen, whether that kitchen is grilling backyard ribs or plating in a professional restaurant.

The push toward native Australian ingredients is also a push toward sustainability — shorter supply chains, provenance-led farming, and flavours that are genuinely unique to this land. Every jar of lemon myrtle you use connects you to the subtropical rainforests of Queensland, to Australian growers, and to a food culture that is finally being recognised for the depth and originality it has always carried.

At Terrablendz, we are committed to bringing that quality directly to your kitchen. Explore our premium dried lemon myrtle and experience the difference that thoughtfully sourced, properly processed native herbs make in everything you cook.