Kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix DC) is one of the Citrus species that is popular as food spices in Indonesia. This study was aimed at describing the production system, post-harvest handling, marketing and evaluating the product variation of kaffir lime cultivated in the Tulungagung district, East Java Province, Indonesia. Data was collected through a survey by interviewing kaffir lime farmers, distributors and customers in June 2018. Kaffir lime is cultivated by local farmers using traditional and conventional agriculture practices. The farmer used good quality seedlings as planting materials and applies animal manure or compost to the trees. Kaffir lime is grown on rain-fed land; fertilizers and pesticides are applied sparingly. The kaffir lime leaves could be harvested twice a year in different seasons. Better leaf quality can be obtained during the rainy seasons. The leaf production per tree is estimated at about 100 gram per plant per season. Post-harvest handling involved sorting, packing and marketing without any cooling treatment. The standard gate price of kaffir lime leaf in June 2019 was IDR 6,000-7,000, IDR 9,000-10,000 at the collector level, IDR 11,000-12,000 at wholesaler, and IDR 14,000-16,000 at small retailers. Leaves were distributed to traditional market in Tulungagung, neighbouring districts such as Kediri, Trenggalek and Blitar, and also to capital cities such Jakarta. The main product of kaffir lime is the fresh leaf for food seasoning and as a raw material to produce essential oil and dry leaf powder. The stems have been used for fuel in home industries. The fruits of kaffir lime are rarely found in the market and have great potentials for essential oil production and recently, a promising commodity for export.

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Kaffir lime has been widely researched for use as an essential oil, alongside its main function as an Asian spice, due to the needs of numerous industries. A meta-analysis was used to summarize the variation in yield and main components of kaffir lime essential oils in response to differences in plant origins, plant parts, and extraction methods during the last fifty years. A database was constructed from 85 data items from 36 single studies, prepared by following PRISMA-P. The result showed no significant effect of extraction method on variation in oil yield and main components. In contrast, after integrating numerous single studies under a statistical approach, some interesting facts emerged, such as (i) plant origin significantly affected the citronellol, i.e., subtropical conditions were more favorable than tropical ones; (ii) caryophyllene was found in all countries, from subtropical America and tropical Asia to tropical East Africa; (iii) the richest parts of citronellal, citronellol, citronellyl acetate, and sabinene were leaves, blossoms, twigs, and fruit peels, respectively; and (iv) due to significant interaction of plant origin and plant parts, a very challenging issue in boosting oil yield could be answered by formulating location-specific and organ-specific culture practices. This study had succeeded in providing further research directions.

Abstract. Budiarto R, Poerwanto R, Santosa E, Efendi D, Agusta A. 2021. Short Communication: Allometric model to estimate bifoliate leaf area and weight of kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix). Biodiversitas 22: 2815-2820. Leaf is an economically important plant organ harvested from kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix DC.) for flavor and fragrance. This study aimed to formulate and validate regression models to estimate the leaf area (LA) and leaf weight (LW) of bifoliate kaffir lime leaf. There were 220 bifoliate leaves collected from 22 individual plants planted on Bogor. Bifoliate C. hystrix leaf consisted of upper main leaflets and winged petiole as lower secondary leaflet. All leaves were pooled and then grouped randomly into two subgroups for model formulation and validation, respectively. Linear, zero intercepts linear, exponential, logarithmic, polynomial, zero intercept polynomial and power regressions were used to properly estimate LA and LW. There was 63 formula obtained from nine predictors following seven regression models. Selected nine formulas with the highest R2 plus a stepwise formula were further tested for validation. Stepwise always showed the highest R2 followed by total of leaf ,length (TL) both on LA and LW estimation. However, the stepwise seemed to be more complicated and time wasted than TL regression model. Thus, our recommendation models for non-destructive and simple estimation in C. hystrix bifoliate leaf were LA = 0.1997 (TL)2 + 0.4571 (TL) and LW = 0.0067 (TL)2 + 0.0065 (TL), respectively.

Limau (Citrus amblycarpa (Hassk.) Ochse) is one of the native Citrus species of West Java that is grown in the local backyard, thus is easily found in local cuisines. Limau has great potentials for use as a potted plant in home gardens for its aesthetic value and fragrance. The objective of this research was to describe the metabolites fingerprint and morphology of Limau as a potential functional and ornamental mini tree. Methanol leaf extracts from one-year-old Limau originated from Bogor were analyzed using untargeted Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS). Methanol leaf extract was dominated by vitamin E and composed of other 18 metabolites including phytosterols, fatty acids and terpenes. The major portion of fruit extract consisted of 6-octadecenoic acid, palmitate and various fragrance compounds such as alpha sinensal, alpha limonene, beta citronellal, citronellol, and sabinene. Limau fruits are also a functional food due to its rich antioxidant and aromatic content in the fruits. The morphology of limau tree is suitable as a potted ornamentals or mini-fruits tree for its small crown, sparse branching with unifoliate aromatic leaves and small spines, and plentiful aromatics mini fruits with the diameter of around 2-4 cm.