A hybrid citrus from Australia with a "dangerous name" - a bloody lime. Useful and harmful properties. How there are unfamiliar fruits, what dishes and drinks can be prepared from them. Interesting Facts. Also in the pulp of crimson citrus there is a small amount of manganese, selenium, zinc and copper, organic and inorganic acids, sugar, in small amounts.
Health Benefits of Blood Lime
The hybrid variety is not used as a medicinal plant. But the benefits of Australian blood lime for the body when consumed are no less than when other citrus species and varieties are added to the menu.
Beneficial effect:
- It is a natural anesthetic due to its high content of anthocyanins.
- Prevents exacerbation of rheumatic processes, gout and arthritis.
- It has an anti-inflammatory effect, increases the local immunity of the body, accelerates recovery from colds.
- Accelerates intestinal peristalsis, cleanses it of old toxins.
- Prevents age-related changes, increases collagen production.
- Stimulates hair growth, increases the strength of the skeletal system, including teeth and nails.
- Prevents fragility of blood vessels, stabilizes the work of the heart and lungs, increases the saturation of all organs and systems with oxygen.
- Supports visual function, improves twilight vision.
- Normalizes the work of the urinary system, helps to get rid of edema, while replenishing the body with potassium.
Thanks to the use of crimson citrus, you can quickly recover from exhausting stress, both physical and mental.
Contraindications and harm of bloody lime
All types of citrus fruits are highly allergenic, and artificial hybrid varieties are no exception.
Potential harm to the body of Australian Blood Lime:
- Development of allergic reactions - urticaria, skin itching, swelling of the mucous membrane, intestinal disorders, bronchospasm may appear;
- Erosive damage to the digestive organs and peptic ulcer;
- Pancreatitis;
- Destruction of tooth enamel.
The consumption of sour fruit should be limited. Dangerous properties persist when lime juice is added to drinks and dishes. Bartenders always ask customers if they should add Australian Blood Limes to the drink or be limited to the regular variety. Due to the high concentration of furocoumarins, phytodermatosis quickly appears - the skin darkens, the lips and throat can swell.
Introducing blood lime into the diet is not justified. Due to a sharp increase in the acidity of gastric juice, a feeling of hunger quickly arises, and it is impossible to refrain from additional food intake. If this is not done, a burning sensation and soreness will appear under the spoon.
In no case should blood lime be added to the menu for children under 5 years old and pregnant women. As already mentioned, the variety was received not so long ago and the effect of the product on the human body has not been fully studied.
How the Australian Blood Lime is eaten
Everything is used in the hybrid lime. The pulp is added to various dishes, sauces, marmalades and jellies are prepared from it, juices are squeezed out.
You need to know how to eat Australian blood lime if you want to acidify tea or other drink. You do not even need to try to cut an even slice - the segments-eggs will disintegrate. The peel is easily cut, and the pulp is scooped up with a dessert spoon.
But in Iranian cuisine, preference is given to the peel of the fruit. It is dried, ground into powder and used as a spice.
Blood Lime Recipes
Citrus desserts with bright pulp are not only tasty, but also very beautiful. Marmalade shimmers in different colors - from light yellow to purple, because on the same tree, as already mentioned, you can find fruits with pulp of different shades.
Australian Blood Lime recipes for different dishes:
- Marmalade … The mold is lightly greased with butter. In an enamel saucepan, boil the syrup, mixing a little more than 1.5 cups and half a glass of water. Pour gelatin with a small amount of water, dissolve it, pour it into the syrup. Remove it from heat, add 2/3 cup lime juice, beat with a blender. A handful of segments are poured into the mold - they must first be doused with cold water so that they can be easily separated from each other. Pour the syrup over the mold, put it to cool in the freezer. Sprinkle with powdered sugar on top.
- Seafood sauce … Garlic (2 cloves) is pressed through a press, pour a glass of olive oil and 4 tablespoons of soy sauce without additives. Add 4 tablespoons of lime juice. Basil leaves (5-8 pieces) are torn by hand, kneaded well and also mixed in sauce. Interrupt everything with a blender, adding some salt and pepper.
- Japanese sauce … Squeeze the juice from 3 blood limes. Mix 2 tablespoons of fish sauce with one sugar over the fire, add a tablespoon of oyster sauce and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, pour in lime juice.
- Pie … First you need to make the filling. To do this, the fruits are cleanly washed, and then, shaking out the pulp into cheesecloth, squeeze the juice. You need to get at least half a glass. The peel is peeled from white films and part is crushed to get 4 tablespoons of bright zest. The usual method - rubbing the zest on a grater - is not suitable, since the peel of a ripe citrus bursts even when touched, it is so thin. Beat 4 yolks, add a can of condensed milk and juice to them. Everything is thoroughly mixed and put into the refrigerator. You need to cool it for at least an hour. A pack (200 g) of dry, not very sweet cookies are crushed into small crumbs, poured into a basin. Add 70 g of melted butter, interrupt once more so that the mixture becomes completely homogeneous, and spread in a mold greased with vegetable oil. Bake for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 170-180 ° C. After 30 minutes, the sheet with the crushed cookies is taken out, the cream is poured on top and again put into the oven for 10 minutes. At this time, beat egg whites, a tablespoon of starch, lime zest with 5 tablespoons of sugar. The meringue is spread on the baked cream and placed in the oven again. The cake is done when the protein is browned.
To decorate fish dishes, you can simply put a few bright eggs on top. Fish and lime are the perfect combination.
Blood Lime Drink Recipes
To prepare drinks, blood lime is used completely. The peel and leaves are brewed like tea, and juice is used as an ingredient for a cocktail.
Blood Lime Drink Recipes:
- Cooling tea … First, the leaves are brewed: they are compacted to 1/5 of the container, poured with boiling water and boiled for 5 minutes. Pour in dried and pounded peel in medium-sized pieces. Let it brew. Strain after 15 minutes, cool, add honey and cinnamon before serving.
- Simple cocktail … Mix 100 ml of gin with a glass of lemon tonic, add ice and a spoonful of red lime "eggs". The taste is very interesting - at first only the "bouquet" of drinks is felt, and then the bright acid.
- Soft pink cocktail … A drink with a little alcohol. 20 ml gin, 2 tablespoons lime juice, a glass of fine ice.
- Mai-tai … In this cocktail, Bloody Finger Lime juice not only replaced the usual green citrus, but also gave the drink a more pronounced taste. Prepare in advance: 20 ml of dark and 40 ml of light rum, orange Curacao - 15 ml, almond syrup - natural, 15 ml, whole bloody lime, ice cubes in any amount, a small sprig of fresh mint and a thin slice of fresh pineapple. All ingredients are mixed in a shaker including lime juice. Pour into a glass, gently add dark rum. Pour in ice, decorate with a pineapple wedge and a sprig of mint.
Interesting facts about the Australian blood lime
A hybrid is obtained quite easily: a new variety can be reproduced using artificial pollination. But when planting plantations, cuttings are used.
In France, the blood lime was renamed Citron Rouge - a red citron, the mention of blood confused consumers.
The culture has already taken root in the southern states of America. Flowering trees in California begins in October, and fruits are harvested from May to November.
If you pick unripe citrus from a tree, it will rot. Therefore, it is necessary to collect only ripe fruits. That is why their export is difficult. The skin of ripe fruits bursts at the slightest mechanical stress, and it is very difficult to pack them. As soon as you take a "finger" in your hand and squeeze, "eggs" begin to stand out from it. Therefore, they sell "caviar" frozen, in thermo packing.
Avoid planting Australian Blood Limes as an ornamental shrub. The dense crown helps to hide from the sun, but numerous thorns will prevent you from resting in the planting - you can get hurt.
Currently, blood lime is mainly grown by the owner of the plantation (number of trees is about 1400) Warren McIntosh. The name of the farm is Gondwana Native Limes. The landing is located at the edge of the rainforest, on the northern coast of Australia.
Watch the video about the Australian Blood Llama:
Despite all the difficulties with transportation, European residents have the opportunity to get acquainted with the taste of Australian citrus. Frozen caviar is often added to cocktails. If, when consumed, acid appears in the last sip, you can be sure - they used finger lime. Its pulp always sinks to the bottom of the glass.
