Lime (Citrus aurantifolia [Christm. et Panz.] Swingle)
Fresh lime
www.csdl.tamu.eduUsed plant part
Juice and fruit skin (pericarp). The fruits are almost always picked when unripe (green), and are usually consumed before they reach the ripe state (yellow).
Plant family
Rutaceae (citrus family).
Sensoric quality
Limes have an odour similar to lemon, but more fresh (see also lemon myrtle). The juice is sour as lemon juice, but more aromatic.
Main constituents
Lime pericarp contains an essential oil (7%), whose main components are citral, limonene and fenchon (up to 15%). Further aroma compounds are terpineol, bisabolene and other terpenoids.
Lime flower
www.csdl.tamu.eduOrigin
In contrast to the more subtropical lemon, lime requires tropical climate. It probably stems from Southeast Asia, where many more related species grow wild (e.g, kaffir lime).
Today, many different lime varieties are known and cultivated. Small-fruited cultivars are often more aromatic; in the US, they are called "key limes", since they are (or were) grown on Key West. Limes cultivated in tropical Asia have similar fruits.
Large-fruited cultivars (Tahiti, Bearss) are often regarded inferior.
Ripe limes
Limes are small citrus fruits which are usually harvested green; they are a common food ingredient in parts of Asia and Central America. Mostly, the fruit juice is used to impart a sour and refreshing fragrance to cold and warm dishes and drinks. Lime juice resembles lemon juice in its acidity, but is much more aromatic. If lime juice is substituted by lemon juice, the result will always be boring and disappointing. Culinary usage of lime is almost restricted to tropical countries.
In Southeast Asia, the peel of several local Citrus species is used for cooking; in general, ordinary limes make a good substitute. Thais and Malays sometimes add whole fruits of kaffir limes to their curries, and on the Philippines, the local kalamansi (Citrofortunella mitis, also called Citrus mitis) are cultivated for both juice and peel. Especially the latter can easily be substituted by ordinary limes or, in the worst case, lemons.
Lime shrub bearing unripe fruits
w3y.pharm.hiroshima-u.ac.jpA unique kind of food depending completely on lime juice is ceviche (also spelt cebiche or sebiche), a common method to prepare very fresh fish in Latin America. Raw fish is marinated with ample lime juice overnight and, on the next day, seasoned with fresh chiles and coriander leaves (or long coriander); further ingredients are onion and tomatoes. The recipe appears to be of Polynesian origin, but is today often found along the Pacific coast from México to peru, and on the Caribbean islands. To my taste, Caribbean chiles (habaneros or Scotch bonnets) are best for this purpose; yet, Méxican recipes usually prescribe green jalapeños or the hotter serranos. In Peru, the indigenous ají amarillo is used.
The trick behind ceviche is that proteins denaturize in an acidic medium, as they do at high temperatures; therefore, the fish may be considered 'cooked' by the cold but sour lime juice. For this reason, ceviche cannot be directly compared to the
Dried lime
Japanese versions of raw fish (see wasabi), in which the protein is not denaturized at all.
In the Gulf countries, ripe limes are boiled in salt water and sun-dried until their interior turns dark; the resulting spice, called loomi (or lumi) in the countries of the Arab pensinsular and amani (or omani) in Iran, is often used to impart a distinct citrus odour and a sour tang to legumes and meat dishes. The limes are pierced with a skewer before usage. In Iran and Northern India, powdered loomi is also used to flavour rice (as an alternative to sumac); it goes best with long-grain Indian basmati rice. Lime (or lemon) juice is contained in the Yemeni spice paste zhoug (see coriander).
