Thursday, April 2, 2009

Calamondin (Kalamansi)

Calamondin fruit is a small citrus fruit mainly used to flavour foods and drinks. It resembles a small, round lime size and usually 25-35mm in diameter with a very thin green or orange colored peel. It has the odor of a tangerine. The fruit tastes quite sour but the peel tastes sweet and hence it feels the whole as a combination of sweet and sour; a different taste. The fruit can be frozen whole and used as ice cubes in beverages like tea or ginger ale. The juice extracted by crushing the whole fruit used to flavor drinks.

Boiling the sliced fruits with cranberries will make tart sauce. They are also preserved whole as sugar sirup, or made into sweet pickles. A superior marmalade is made by using equal quantities of calamondins and kumquats.

It can be also as a deodorizer, and incorporated in soaps, lotions and shampoos. It eliminates itching and promotes hair growth. It bleaches freckles and helps to clear up acne vulgaris and pruritus vulvae. It is also taken orally as a cough remedy and antiphlogistic. Their leaves produces oil and are serves as a carminative with more potency than peppermint oil.