🇸🇦 Arabicar
ورق ليمون مكرود
waraq laymun makrud
Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos), TH
Makrut lime leaf
2 lobes
double-lobed leaf
figure-eight silhouette
3 cuisines
Thai, Indonesian, Cambodian
core Southeast Asian triangle
~65%
citronellal share
of leaf essential oil
Citrus hystrix
species name
same tree gives bumpy limes
Visual atlas
Profile
Makrut lime leaf is the glossy, figure-eight foliage of Citrus hystrix, a knobbly-fruited citrus native to the lowland forests of Southeast Asia. Each leaf is actually two joined lobes — a petiole-like lower segment fused to a broader upper blade — and the entire surface is studded with oil glands so dense that a single bruised leaf can scent a whole kitchen. The aromatic signature is dominated by (S)-(-)-citronellal, which can reach 65 to 80 percent of the essential oil, supported by citronellol, linalool and nerol. That profile is why the leaf reads as lime-peel-meets-lemongrass-meets-eucalyptus rather than simply citrus. In Thai cooking it is torn or chiffonaded into tom kha gai, tom yum, green and red curries, and steamed fish; Indonesian cooks layer it into rendang and gulai; Cambodian samlor machu and Lao laap use it whole or pounded into curry paste. The old colonial term «kaffir» carries a slur in southern African languages and is being retired across trade and cookbook publishing in favour of «makrut», the Thai-derived botanical name.
Origin
Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos), TH.
TH
Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos) · Bangkok region (Thailand)
Process
01Year 1
Nursery grafting
Citrus hystrix propagated from cuttings or grafts on rough lemon rootstock — commercial orchards in central Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia.
02Year 2-3
Establishment
Young trees settle into well-drained tropical soils, full sun, regular rain. Leaves can be picked lightly from year two.
03Year 3+
Continuous harvest
Mature trees yield leaves year-round in the wet tropics. Pickers take glossy mature leaves in small bunches, avoiding the youngest flush.
04Same day
Fresh is the point
Leaves travel fastest to market still on twigs. Aroma drops by a third within 48 hours at room temperature.
05Cold chain
Freeze or vacuum
The home trick: wash, dry, freeze on a tray, then bag. Frozen leaves hold aroma for six months; dried leaves are a faint echo.
06Your pot
Tear, don't drop whole
Tear the leaf away from the central spine and chiffonade fine, or bruise and simmer — oil release is mechanical.
Inside the berry
The molecules that make it taste like Kampot — and not like anything else.
The double-lobed leaf of Citrus hystrix carries an essential oil dominated by (R)-(+)-citronellal — the molecule that announces Thai curry before you see the bowl.
0.5%
Essential oil
of fresh leaf weight
65%
Citronellal share
of the oil
~48h
Aroma half-life
at room temperature
Frozen
Storage best practice
6 months holding
Volatile compound profile
- (R)-(+)-Citronellal65.0%
The signature — sharp green citrus, the exact note that says 'Thai curry'.
- Linalool8.5%
Floral-citrus lift, keeps the citronellal from feeling harsh.
- Citronellol6.0%
Rose-citrus roundness, softens the top end.
- beta-Pinene4.2%
Pine-fresh terpene, a green vertical lift.
- Sabinene3.1%
Peppery-citrus spice, adds warmth under the green.
- Nerol2.3%
Sweet orange-blossom thread, rounds out the tail.
Versus other peppers
| Pepper | Citronellal | Oil |
|---|---|---|
★ Makrut lime leaf (Thai) Citrus hystrix · fresh, grown in-country | 65% | 0.5% |
Makrut lime leaf (Indo) daun jeruk purut · similar profile | 60% | 0.5% |
Persian lime zest Citrus latifolia · limonene-dominant, different axis | N/A | 1.2% |
Curry leaf Murraya koenigii · different genus, different aroma | N/A | 1.0% |
Lemongrass Cymbopogon citratus · citral-based, citronellal overlaps partly | N/A | 0.7% |
Cuisines
How the world cooks with it.
3 signature dishes
Bangkok and the central plains made the leaf famous — the backbone of every classic curry and sour soup.
- Tom kha gaigrade: thai-makrut
Galangal-coconut-chicken soup, leaves torn through the broth until the oil blooms.
- Tom yum goonggrade: thai-makrut
Hot and sour shrimp broth, bruised leaves simmered in the lemongrass-galangal base.
- Thai green currygrade: thai-makrut
Coconut curry paste fried in cream, leaves chiffonade at service.
Around the world
What it's called, from Phnom Penh to Palermo.
🇨🇳 Chinesezh
箭叶橙叶
jian ye cheng ye
🇬🇧 Englishen
Makrut lime leaf
🇫🇷 Frenchfr
Feuille de combava
🇩🇪 Germande
Kaffernlimettenblatt
🇮🇳 Hindihi
मकरुत नींबू पत्ती
makrut nimbu patti
🇮🇹 Italianit
Foglia di lime makrut
🇯🇵 Japaneseja
コブミカンの葉
kobumikan no ha
🇵🇹 Portuguesept
Folha de lima kafir
🇪🇸 Spanishes
Hoja de lima makrut
Seasonality
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Peak flushTail flushAvailable year-round
Pairings
Protein
- Tom kha gai
- Rendang
- Steamed fish
Frequent questions
Because 'kaffir' is a slur rooted in colonial-era racial insult, still used pejoratively in parts of southern Africa. The respectful, origin-correct name is makrut lime leaf — Thai makrut, Indonesian jeruk purut, Cambodian krauch soeuch. Several major spice houses and the Oxford Companion to Food made the switch through the 2010s. Use makrut.