Kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix)

Kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix) is a plant species in the Rutaceae family. It grows as a shrub or small tree, reaching a height of 2–11 meters, and features thorns. Its leaves have a distinctive hourglass shape, consisting of a leaf blade attached to a broadened petiole. The fruit is green, turning yellow upon ripening; it is approximately 4 cm wide and has a bumpy, knobby surface.

C. hystrix has a thick pericarp (rind) and a very sour, slightly bitter taste. Its flowers have 4–5 white petals and a fragrant aroma.

The sour juice is commonly used to neutralize the "fishy" or gamey odors of meat and fish, which also helps prevent nausea. Freshly cleaned fish is often drizzled with the juice to reduce such odors. The leaves are typically sliced or chopped and added to spice blends or food mixtures to impart a pleasant fragrance.

The oil extracted from the leaves is dominated by the essential oil component (-)-(S)-citronellal (80%), with the remainder consisting of citronellol (10%), nerol, and limonene. The primary components of the fruit peel are limonene and β-pinene. The leaves contain exclusively the (S)-stereoisomer of citronellal. Both the peel and the flesh of the fruit contain significant amounts of furanocoumarins, which are known to potentially cause phytophotodermatitis.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily: Aurantioideae
Genus: Citrus L. in Sp. Pl.: 782 (1753)
Species: Citrus hystrix DC. in Cat. Pl. Horti Monsp.: 97 (1813)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Citrus × aurantium hystrix (DC.) Jacquemont-Bonnefont in Cat. Prix Cour. 1833: 51 (1833)
Citrus echinata St.-Lag. in Ann. Soc. Bot. Lyon 7: 122 (1880)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Citrus × aurantium var. saponacea Saff. in Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 9: 226 (1905)
Citrus auraria Michel in Traité Citronier: 43 (1816)
Citrus balincolong (Yu.Tanaka) Yu.Tanaka in Syst. Pomol.: 139 (1951)
Citrus × bergamia var. unguentaria M.Roem. in Fam. Nat. Syn. Monogr. 1: 61 (1846)
Citrus × bergamia var. ventricosa (Michel) M.Roem. (1846)
Citrus boholensis (Wester) Yu.Tanaka (1951)
Citrus celebica Koord. in Meded. Lands Plantentuin 19: 639 (1898)
Citrus celebica var. southwickii (Wester) Swingle in J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 28: 533 (1938)
Citrus combara Raf. in Sylva Tellur.: 142 (1838)
Citrus combara var. boholensis (Wester) Tanaka in Stud. Citrol. 9: 3 (1939)
Citrus combara var. macroptera (Montrouz.) Tanaka in J. Soc. Trop. Agric. 10: 352 (1938)
Citrus combara var. micrantha (Wester) Tanaka (1939)
Citrus hyalopulpa Tanaka in Stud. Citrol. 10: 81 (1941)
Citrus hystrix var. annamensis (Yu.Tanaka) Guillaumin in H.Lecomte, Fl. Gén. Indo-Chine 1(Suppl.): 654 (1946)
Citrus hystrix var. balincolong Tanaka in Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 22: 429 (1932)
Citrus hystrix var. boholensis Wester in Philipp. Agric. Rev. 8: 19 (1915)
Citrus hystrix var. micrantha (Wester) Merr. in Enum. Philipp. Fl. Pl. 2: 343 (1923)
Citrus hystrix var. microcarpa (Wester) Merr. (1923)
Citrus hystrix var. southwickii (Wester) Merr. (1923)
Citrus hystrix var. torosa (Blanco) Wester (1915)
Citrus kerrii (Swingle) Yu.Tanaka (1951)
Citrus latipes Hook.f. & Thomson in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 1: 515 (1875)
Citrus macroptera Montrouz. in Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. Lyon, Sect. Sci., sér. 2, 10: 187 (1860)
Citrus macroptera var. annamensis Tanaka in Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., sér. 2, 2: 164 (1930)
Citrus macroptera var. boholensis (Wester) Tanaka (1932)
Citrus macroptera var. combara (Raf.) Tanaka in J. Indian Bot. Soc. 16: 238 (1937)
Citrus macroptera var. kerrii Swingle in J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 32: 24 (1942)
Citrus macroptera var. micrantha (Wester) Tanaka (1932)
Citrus macroptera var. southwickii (Wester) Tanaka (1932)
Citrus megaloxycarpa Lush. in Indian Forester 36: 345 (1910)
Citrus megaloxycarpa var. pennivesiculata Lush. (1910)
Citrus micrantha Wester (1915)
Citrus micrantha var. balincolong Wester in Philipp. Agric. Rev. 10(2): 7 (1917)
Citrus micrantha var. microcarpa Wester (1915)
Citrus papeda Miq. in Fl. Ned. Ind. 1(2): 530 (1859)
Citrus papuana F.M.Bailey in Contr. Fl. Brit. N. Guin.: 1 (1901)
Citrus pennivesiculata (Lush.) Tanaka (1937)
Citrus southwickii Wester (1915)
Citrus torosa Blanco in Fl. Filip.: 609 (1837)
Citrus tuberoides J.W.Benn. in Select. Rare Curious Fruits Ceylon: t. 1 (1842)
Citrus ventricosa Michel (1816)
Citrus vitiensis Tanaka in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 75: 715 (1928)
Citrus westeri Yu.Tanaka (1951)
Fortunella sagittifolia K.M.Feng & P.Y.Mao in Acta Bot. Yunnan. 6: 69 (1984) Papeda rumphii Hassk. in Flora 25(2, Beibl. 1): 42 (1842)

PUBLICATIONS

Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.

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Fosberg, F.R., Sachet, M.-H., Oliver, R. (1979). A geographical checklist of the Micronesian Dicotyledonae. Micronesica; Journal of the College of Guam 15: 41-295.

Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.

Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590. Smithsonian Institution.

Lê, T.C. (2003). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam 2: 1-1203. Hà Nội : Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp.

Mabberley, D.J. (2022). A classification for edible citrus: an update, with a note on Murraya (Rutaceae). Telopea 25: 271-284.

MacKee, H.S. (1994). Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie, ed. 2: 1-164. Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris.

Mao, A.A., Sinha, B.K., Verma, D. & Sarma, N. (2016). Check-List of Flora of Meghalaya: 1-273. Meghalaya Biodiversity Board, Shillong.

Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.

Pandey, R.P. & Dilwakar, P.G. (2008). An integrated check-list flora of Andaman and Nicobar islands, India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 32: 403-500.

Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Turner, I.M. (1995 publ. 1997). A catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Malaya. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 47(2): 347-655.

Whistler, W.A. (2022). Flora of Samoa Flowering Plants: 1-930. National Tropical Botanicl Garden. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2008). Flora of China 11: 1-622. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

VERNACULAR NAME

Aceh: Boh kruët
Afrikaans: Makrutlemmetjie, Thaise lemmetjie
Arabic: ليم مجعد
Banjar: Limau kuwit
Bima: Dungga Mbudi
Burmese: ရှောက်ဖုတ် Shouk-pote
Cachari: Chamar-haphang
Chinese (simplified): 马蜂橙
Chinese (traditional): 泰國青檸 - 馬蜂橙
Dutch: Djeroek poeroet, Kaffirlimoen, Wilde limoen
English: Kaffir lime, Makrut lime, Limau purut, Leech-lime, Caffir lime
Estonian: Kahvri laimipuu
Filipino: Kabuyau, Kulubut, Kolobot, Kabuyaw, Kulubot
French: Combava, Citron combera
Garo: Chambal
German: Combava, Kaffernlimette, Kaffir-Limette, Makrut
Indonesia: Jeruk purut, Limo purut
Java: Iêruk purut
Khasi: Soh Kwit
Khmer: ក្រច ស៊ឺច - ក្រច ស៊ឺច Krauch soeuch, Kroch saech
Lao: ຂີ້ຮູດ 'Khi 'hout
Malaysia: Limau purut
Manipuri: Heiribob
Mizo: Hâtkora
Northern Thai: ᨷ᩵ᩤᨠᩕᩪᨯ
Polish: Limonka kaffir, Papeda
Portuguese: Combava
Slovak: Citrónovník bodľavý
Spanish: Naranjo amargo
Sylheti: Satkora
Tamil: கொலுமிச்சை Kolumichai
Tangkhul: Heiripok
Thai: มะกรูด
Turkish: Kaffir misket limonu
Vietnam: Truc, Chúc

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