LIMAU AS AN ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Who doesn't know limau? Even though the fruit of the plant cannot be consumed directly because of its acidic taste, the fruit juice or leaf fragments of this plant can provide a distinctive taste in cuisine, especially traditional Indonesian cuisine, especially Bali. Unlike its siblings, which are lime which can be squeezed into a beverage, the fruit of the limau plant contains very little water. Then does this plant only function as a flavor enhancer? how about the nutritional value? and whether the leaves or fruit of this plant has medicinal properties? In this article I will try to discuss it.

Limau
Limau or known as "juwuk lemo" in Bali, is a small shrub shaped tree with a height of 1-2 m. The fruit is small with a diameter about 2-3 cm. This plant has the scientific name Citrus amblycarpa (Haskk.) Ocshe. This plant has elongated ovate compound leaves with a blunt leaf tip with a leaf length of 7-9 cm with a leaf diameter of 4-5 cm, and has a green, thin and fragrant scent. C. amblycarpa fruit is round with a diameter of 4-7.5 cm in dark green and yellow to orange when C. amblycarpa is ripe (Backer and Brink, 1965). Limau is often considered the same as lime, even though these two plants are different plant species. This plant can grow in almost all regions in Indonesia, but this plant will grow optimally in the highlands

Nutrition and Phytochemicals
Limau fruit that tastes sour contains vitamin C. In addition to vitamin C, this plant fruit also contains carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. This orange fruit also has a sodium content about 1 mg in 31 grams of its juice. In addition to the fruit, limau leaves have been investigated to contain potential compounds as drugs such as flavonoids, polyphenols, tannins, glycosides, phytosterols and essential oils (Putra et al., 2018).

Limau Leaves in Traditional Medicine
Limau has been widely applied as medicine by people in Bali. Bali has a treatment system based on local Balinese wisdom known as Usada which is arranged in the form of lontar. One of the known lontar is lontar usada taru premana. In the treatment of usada Taru Premana, it is mentioned that the limau can be used to treat cramps and tingling (Putra et al., 2018).

The scientific aspects of limau as medicine
Essential oils found in limau leaves have antibacterial properties, because they can inhibit the growth of infectious bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus by 0.039% (Mulyani and Hutabarat, 2009). In addition, several studies have shown that limau leaves which are made into extracts have the ability to relieve pain. Based on research conducted by Cahyaningsih et al. (2019), administration of limau leaf extract at a dose of 100mg/kgBW, 300mg/kgBW, and 500mg/kgBW to animals in male mice showed their ability to significantly reduce pain.

So the limoau plant has the potential to be developed as a treatment, considering the content of this plant has been investigated to contain medicinal compounds and the results of laboratory tests also prove that the extract of the leaves of this plant has the ability to relieve pain. Let's plant limau as one of the family medicinal plants!

REFFERENCES:

Cahyaningsih, N.K., Satriawati, D.A., Wicaksana, I.G.PAP., Yulita, S., Sukarmini, N.N.F., Astuti, N.K.W., dan Yadnya-Putra, A.A.G.R. 2019, Uji Aktivitas Analgesik Ekstrak Etanol Daun Jeruk Limau (Citrus amblycarpa (Haskk.) Ocshe) pada Mencit Jantan Galur Balb/C dengan Metode Hot Plate, Jurnal Farmasi Udayana, 8(1): 36-43

Putra, D.M.D., Satriawati, D.A., Astuti, N.K.W., dan Yadnya-Putra, A.A.G.R. 2018, Standarisasi Dan Skrining Fitokimia Ekstrak Etanol 70% Daun Jeruk Limau (Citrus amblycarpa (Hassk.) Osche), Jurnal Kimia, 12(2): 187-194