Citrus × aurantiifolia (Christm.) Swingle

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Lime
Key lime
Omani Lime
Adam's Apple
Mexican Lime
West Indian Lime
Bartender's Lime
Limau
Limau Asam

In Omani studies: Miller & Morris (1988) mentioned that: "It is one of a group of fruit-bearing trees that in former times were considered to be important enough to be dug up and transplanted, a thorny fence being erected around the young sapling to protect it as it grew. The lime were appreciated for their sharpness and acidity, and were sucked to quench thirst, and their juice added to water to make a refreshing drink. They were used in cooking to give the well-liked sour, sharp flavour to sauces and stews. The limes of the mountains were also collected and sold for a good price in the coastal markets where they were in great demand. The leaves too were plucked, and added to tea or to a isane made from local herbs, where they imparted a delicate lemony flavour and fragrance. They were also gathered and sun-dried and stored for ... future use - they were pounded to a powder which was added to sauces and stews to perfume and flavour them. Medicinally, the juice was appreciated as being a general tonic for the whole body, and as a cleanser and purifier for the blood. The juice of a fresh lime was squeezed into a painful ear which was infected and exuding pus, and epigastric pain [J: saheret] was treated by drinking hot water into which some fresh lime juice had been squeezed. There is a saying in some parts of Dhofar which goes: kull hamid da' gayr elomi dawa', which means 'everything astringent is harmful except the lime, which has medicinal properties'. The wood was not considered to be suitable as fuel since it gives off an unpleasant smell as it burns. In northern Oman - where limes have long been cultivated and were in earlier years an important export - the lime was used to treat various eye conditions, both as a cleanser for diseased eyes, and in the form of an antimony. The peel, mixed with myrrh and salt and hiltit (Ferula sp.) was taken first thing in the morning over a period of time as a remedy for pains of the liver and of the lungs, and to treat tuberculosis. Lime juice was also squeezed over the head of a child with fever, and a paste, made from a crushed dried lime pounded with salt and water and the heated, was applied to the site of a deeply embedded thorn to aid in its extraction". (Ref. Plants of Dhofar). In addition, Ghazanfar (2015) wrote that: "Used in traditional cuisine. Often dried on rooftops in many mountain villages and used in traditional cuisine; juice is used for making lime drinks and flavouring dishes". (Ref. Flora of Oman; vol.2).

*Ghazanfar, S. (2007). Flora of the Sultanate of Oman, vol.2: Crassulaceae – Apiaceae. Meise, National Botanic Garden of Belgium (Scripta Botanica Begica, Vol. 36). ISBN 9789072619747 ISSN 0779-2387. *https://en.wikipedia.org *https://apps.cals.arizona.edu *Miller, A., Morris, M. (1988). Plants of Dhofar, the Southern Region of Oman: Traditional, Economic, and Medicinal Uses. Published by Office of the Adviser for Conservation of the Environment, Diwan of Royal Court, Sultanate of Oman; ISBN 10: 0715708082 ISSN 13: 9780715708088. *Hammer, K. Gebauer, J. Al Khanjari, S. Buerkert, A. (2009). Oman at the cross-roads of inter-regional exchange of cultivated plants. Gene Resour Crop Evol (2009) 56:547-560. Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008. DOI 10.1007/s10722-008-9385-z. *POWO (2023). ""Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org