Key Lime (Osan Wewe) - Super Fruit

I was raised on all of my mother's home remedies....and there were quite a few. Whatever the ailment, my mum had the perfect home remedy. The most popular of all was the one made with limes. It was the most commonly invoked of them all, and quite frankly, it seemed capable of tackling all of the ailments it was used to cure...!

Its amazing how, back in the day, there wasn't that much knowledge available, but our fore bearers seemed to understand the properties of local ingredients and how best to use them, especially for their health benefits.

Nowadays, information abounds every where, making it even easier to discover new information, based on research of course, about locally available food ingredients.

The other day, I was reading a research paper on Key Limes and there I got to learn that they are indeed categorized as a super food...! This made me more curious to find out more about this fruit and I was very reassured, to discover the many benefits of eating lime or including them in my regular menu.

Key lime is a citrus specie that is yellow when ripe but usually harvested green. It is small and more acidic, with a stronger aroma than other lime species. Key lime is locally called  osan  wewe, orombo we'ere (in the Yoruba dialect), leemuun tsami (in the Hausa dialect).

Some benefits of Key Limes
Key limes have high levels of vitamins, in particular vitamin C, and also quite rich in amino acids, essential oils and many minerals.

Antibacterial
Key lime has antibacterial properties and has been used effectively to combat certain infections and infectious diseases.

Skin Care
Due to its antibacterial properties, key lime is able to help maintain clear and healthy skin. It contains chemical components that can support the production of collagen which is important for keeping the skin supple.

Immune system
Key lime has very high levels of vitamin C, an antioxidant known to be powerful to help boost the body's ability to fight common infections.

Anti-aging
Again the very high levels of antioxidants (examples; hesperidin, lycopene, citric acid, limonene, etc) in key lime make them ideal for combating the aging process.

Type 2 Diabetes
Some researches have come out with findings that suggest that key lime can help regulate the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream and possibly have a positive effect on frequent sugar spikes  in the body.

Refreshing Beverage
Drinking water with added key lime juice before and after meals has immense health benefits.

Flavouring
Limes are used to flavour foods; either sweet or savoury. They are particularly suitable for flavouring desserts because of their sharp/tart taste. Lime peel also has fragrant essential oils which are really good for baking cakes and cookies.

Food Prepping
Lime juice can be used to clean raw chicken or fish before cooking. The juice is effective in removing slime from meat/fish and is also effective in reducing the fat and oil in the meat. The juice imparts a slightly tart flavour to the fish/meat, and also believed to help with tenderization. Excellent for cleaning snail slime.

Medicinal
Key lime juice is believed to have medicinal properties and has been effectively used in the treatment of coughs, stomach upset relating to indigestion, acne, skin rashes etc. Also effective as a mild antibacterial agent. Lime juice can be used to treat mouth ulcers or tooth ache. It can also be used as a dressing for cuts or wounds on the skin.