2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Finger lime (lat. Citrus australasica) - a fruit crop belonging to the Rutaceae family and often called the Australian Finger Lime (Australian Finger Lime is its trade name) or lemon caviar. This is the most unusual and exotic plant among all citrus fruits!
Description
Fancy oval-cylindrical fruits of finger limes reach two to three centimeters in diameter, and their length often reaches ten centimeters. As for weight, one fruit weighs on average about one hundred to one hundred and fifty grams. Compared to other citrus fruits, the peel of these fruits is quite thin, and its color can be as varied as you like: red, purple, brown, orange, yellow, burgundy, green and even black!
The pulp of the fruit is formed by a fairly large number of miniature round sections, and vacuoles filled with wonderful juice are located in these sections. All sections are easily separated from each other, which makes the pulp of finger lime visually similar to fish roe. The pulp tastes very sour, almost the same as lime, and it also boasts a wonderful citrus scent.
The flowering of this culture begins in late autumn, and ends in the summer, and the ripening of the fruits occurs in May-June. And in the United States, finger limes are harvested from October to January.
Where grows
Under natural conditions, the finger lime can be seen only in eastern Australia, in the picturesque rainforests. It is especially abundant in the states of New South Wales and Queensland.
Australians began to grow this plant commercially in the nineties of the last century. And in recent years, this unusual culture has gained unprecedented popularity in the United States - there are huge plantations of finger limes in California, but the demand for it still significantly exceeds the supply. In short, this culture has very good prospects! As of today, there are already five registered finger lime varieties!
Application
Finger lime pulp is an integral part of a great variety of dishes. Even chefs in the best Australian restaurants actively use it! It is very good not only in salads, in soups or as a side dish - from the pulp of finger lime, excellent decorations for all kinds of fish and meat dishes are obtained.
Sometimes in cooking, the zest of the fruit is also used, as well as the leaves of this culture - the latter can boast of a fairly strong and delicious citrus aroma and are actively used in salads, and are also included in the recipe of some soft drinks.
Since finger limes cannot yet boast of a solid distribution area, it has not yet been studied enough. However, even now there is no doubt that it is very rich in citric acid and vitamin C, but there is practically no sugar in it.
Contraindications
When using finger lime, individual intolerance is not excluded, so it does not hurt to take some caution.
Growing and caring
Finger lime is quite capable of withstanding minor frosts, but the soil intended for its cultivation must certainly be enriched with a wide variety of nutrients. As for reproduction, this crop can be grown from both seeds and cuttings, or by grafting on some other varieties of citrus fruits.
When planting a finger lime, it is important to be prepared for the fact that it grows extremely slowly - fifteen years can easily pass before it reaches full maturity.
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