Herbs anyone??? (Part 3) - Kaffir Lime

Citrus Hystrix DC or commonly known as Kaffir Lime is a native of Asia. It is widely used as a culinary herb especially in Southeast Asian cuisine. Locally, it is known as Limau Purut (Malay) and by any other names in different countries such as Jeruk Purut (Indonesian), Bai Makrut (Thai), etc.


The leaves of the lime have a unique, characteristic shape due to their winged petioles*, double-shaped that looks like two leaves joined end to end. The strong lemon-like frangrance of both fruit as well as the leaf can be quite dominating and penetrating but can be quite refreshing. The leaf of the Kaffir Lime is popularly used in Thai cuisine such as the popular Tom Yum & curries whereas in Malay cuisine, the leaves are crushed or shredded and add into delicious Rendang..uummmph, yummy!! The frangrance and the distintive flavour derived from the leaves is irreplaceable or cannot easily be substituted by any other spice.


In Indonesia, the juice and rind of the fruit (size like the normal lime but with wrinkled skin texture) are traditionally used as a medicinal herb in the Jamu (concoction of herbal medicine) and Lulur (body scrub). The oil produced from the rind also has a strong insecticidal properties while the essence of the fruit is now popularly used in modern aromatherapy.

In some parts of Malaysia, other than the wide usage of the leaves in their cuisine, it also utilised as one of the ingredients of the traditional Malay sauna bath or 'mandi wap' because of its refreshing frangrance.

The Kaffir Lime fruit is also widely used traditionally in the malay community. The juice extracted from the fruit if washed onto hair after shampooing and left for a few minutes before the final rinse, will actually promote healthy growth of the hair follicles*. The extracted lime juice if mixed with plain water and consumed for at least 3 times per day is also believed to alleviate colds, lack of energy and tiredness.

It is also known during the olden days that the fruit is frequently used in spiritual bathing due to the belief that the fruit contains some special qualities that will invigorate the senses during self-defence training. Perhaps, its frangrance & sharp odour contain elements that provide some peculiar distinctive aromatherapic properties to the brain.

The Kaffir Lime can be propagated by stem cuttings, seeds from the ripen fruits or by grafting onto a dwarfing rootstock, carefully placed onto well-drained medium. Usually, grafted rootstock or stem cuttings are much favoured than germinating of seeds due to the latter will take a longer process to grow into an adult plant. Since it is a tropical plant, lots of sunshine is preferable.


*petioles - leaf stalk
*follicles - small gland containing hair root