Kaffir lime leaves and fruits have pleasant smell and
are referred to as medicinal lime (Yaacob and Subhadrabandhu, 1995). The kaffir
lime juice was deliberately applied as a treatment for insect bites and as an insect
repellent (Koh and Ong, 1999). The leaf oil of kaffir lime yielded high number of
oxygenated monoterpenes. The identified oxygenated compounds contained
approximately over 85% of total oil. The major components characterized from the
kaffir lime leaf oil were β-citronellal, a monoterpenoid, representing 66.85% of total
oil. This was followed by β-citronellol (6.59%), linalool (3.90%) and citronellol
(1.76%). Others components were never exceeded 2% of the oil composition. Kaffir
lime essential oil showed good repellence properties against cluster caterpillar
Spodoptera litura larvae.