The Australian finger lime plant is a thorny understorey small tree of lowland subtropical rainforest and dry rainforest in the coastal border region of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. It has edible fruits which are under development as a potential new commercial crop.
Australia’s finger lime industry could be lost overseas if export rules don’t change, according to Ian Douglas, who runs The Lime Caviar company at Rathdowney in south-west Queensland.
According to Douglas, “finger limes are now so popular with chefs that the US, South Africa, Thailand and Italy were already planting finger lime orchards.”
Unfortunately, the citrus fruit grower cannot keep up with domestic and international demand for the fruit, especially that they sell for $40 a kilo ABC reported.
Douglas insists: “the small Australian industry would not grow unless producers could export their fruit fresh”, adding “Because it’s a citrus, those countries believe the fruit fly must be associated with finger limes, which is not true.”
“So we can’t send fresh finger limes to Japan and other potentially huge markets like China, India, the US and New Zealand.
“We have to overcome that problem, otherwise we will have our finger limes grown offshore.”
PHOTO: Margie and Ian Douglas at their orchard in south-west Queensland. (ABC: Pip Courtney)
The finger lime has been recently popularised as a gourmet bushfood. The globular juice vesicles have been likened to a “lime caviar“, which can be used as a garnish or added to various recipes.
The fresh vesicles have the effect of a burst of effervescent tangy flavour as they are chewed. The fruit juice is acidic and similar to that of a lime.
Marmalade and pickles are also made from finger lime. The finger lime peel can be dried and used as a flavouring spice.
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