page_title: Citrus australasica
section_title: Rising demand
hierarchical_section_title: Citrus australasica / Cultivation and uses / Rising demand
caption_attribution_description: English: A finger lime cut in half, with juice vesicles extracted.
context_page_description: Citrus australasica, the Australian finger lime or caviar lime, is a thorny understorey shrub or small tree of lowland subtropical rainforest and rainforest in the coastal border region of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia.
  It has edible fruits which are under development as a commercial crop.
  According to the Swingle system it is not part of the genus Citrus, but in a related genus Microcitrus.
context_section_description: The finger lime has been recently popularised as a gourmet bushfood. The globular juice vesicles (also known as pearls) 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.
  Commercial use of finger lime fruit started in the mid-1990s in boutique marmalades made from wild harvested fruit. By 2000 the finger lime was being sold in restaurants, including the export of fresh fruit.
  The finger lime has been recently grown on a commercial basis in Australia in response to high demand for the fruit. There is an increasing range of genetic selections which are budded onto citrus rootstock. With the sudden high market demand for the fruit the primary source of genetic material for propagation has been selections from wild stock.
caption: Red finger lime with juice vesicles partially extracted
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