Kaffir lime

The fruit tree kafir lime belongs to the Rutov family and belongs to the subspecies of citrus plants. In our latitudes, there is no kafir lime, because the distribution range of the plant is limited to climatic zones of such a region as Southeast Asia. The most common lime plant is in countries such as Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, the Kingdom of Thailand, India and Malaysia.

The name kafir lime in Latin sounds like Citrus hystrix or papeda igliquid. There are some well-known variants of the plant name. For example, kaffir lime is called kaffir, lima, kaffir lime, Limetta kaffir, as well as wild citrus. In its appearance, kaffir lime is strikingly different from its closest relative, the common lime.

Kafir lime fruits have a color ranging from saturated to dark green. After some time since maturation, the caffir changes its color to yellow. The skin of citrus is tuberous and thick. Kafir lime was originally native to India. For a long time, kaffir lime has been a distinctive ingredient in dishes exclusively of Indian national cuisine. Only in the XVIII kafir lime spread throughout the region of Southeast Asia.

Currently, kafir lime is grown not only in South Africa, but also in Central America and Africa. It is noteworthy that the main benefit of kafir lime lies not in the fruits, but in the leaves of plants. The fact is that the citrus fruits of kaffra lime have a sharp bitter-sour taste, so they are not consumed as food. But in most dishes of the countries of the Southeast Asia region there is a seasoning based on kafir lime leaves.

Often, zest of kafir lime fruits is used in cooking. The leaves of kafir lime have a distinctive citrus flavor and a fresh chilling aroma. Citrus leaves are used fresh or dried. Notably, kaffir lime leaves are able to maintain their distinctive citrus flavor and aroma for about three months. The main thing is to store the product correctly in containers under a tightly closed lid and in a cool place.

Usually kafir lime is added to the first, as well as meat and fish dishes. Kafir zest is used for salads and pastries. And vitamin freshies are made from sour kafir lime fruits. In addition to cooking, kafir lime is used in medicine and cosmetology. Like other citrus fruits, kaffir lime contains sufficient vitamin C.

In pharmacology, medicines for normalizing blood pressure, as well as antispasmodic agents are made based on Caffrey lime extract. Kafir lime is considered an excellent antioxidant, as well as a general strengthening agent. In Asian folk medicine, fruits, leaves and flowers of the plant are used. It is believed that kafir lime perfectly strengthens the immune system and is able to fight premature aging of the human body.